A
couple of days of rough weather made sightings a bit more difficult,
but when you have Pacific White Sided Dolphins in groups in the
hundreds and up to 1000, or a Humpback breach, they are not to be
missed! Transient Bigg's Killer Whales have grouped up again briefly
while the smaller Dall's and Harbour Porpoise seem to be in hiding.
I
am pleased to say this is the first of many reports compiled with the
help of, and thanks to, Lynne Cracknell who has volunteered to assist
with this on a regular basis.
On
October 24th I will be giving a presentation and talk on
Pinnipeds; Seals and Sealions. Details are at the bottom of the
reports.
Susan
MacKay, Whales
and Dolphins BC
Have you seen a whale,
dolphin or porpoise?
Call 1-877-323-9776
or Email
your report.
Every sighting report is
valuable
TRANSIENT
BIGG’S KILLER WHALES
Transient
Bigg's Orca
October
3, 2013
Garry
Henkel, Aboriginal Journeys Whales and Grizzly Bears Tours.
October
3:
1:09
pm Orcas off red can buoy south end of Quadra Island heading towards
the mainland. Will let you know in a couple of minutes how many there
are. There are a couple of big fins in the group. Five of them at
least are jumping around like popcorn! About 12 Orca total.
Jos
Krijnen, Eagle Eye Adventures.
October
3:
1:36
pm Lots of Killer Whales, very spread out. Can’t count them all,
but there are twenty at least.
1:55
pm All Northbound now, approaching the Cape Mudge Lighthouse. The
group have split, I only have 8 at the lighthouse now. Leaving them
still heading north at lighthouse.
Leif
Nordman, Campbell River Whale Watching.
October
3:
3:36
pm 7 Orca are playing off Cape Mudge Village for the past 40 minutes,
in front of Elvis’ old house (Elvis is one of our regular
reporters – SM). There's 1 big
male in the group. There's been breaching, spy hopping, head stands
where I could see the white underside of the Orca tails, and general
playful behaviour as they just hang around across from Hidden
Harbour.
J.R.
(name withheld by request), Campbell River
October
3:
3:40
pm Orca are still moving North, haven’t got as far as the village
on Quadra Island yet. They are moving very slowly; they might be
resting. The ones I am looking at don’t look like they are playing.
Laura,
Aboriginal Journeys Whale and Bear Excursions.
October
3:
4:33
pm Many Orcas, probably 20 or so, travelling Northbound at April
Point, across from Campbell River.
5:20
pm T101's and T102 for sure in the group. Superpod of transient
Bigg’s approaching Steep Island, Discovery Channel.
Garry
Henkel, Aboriginal Journeys Whales and Grizzly Bears Tours.
October
3:
6:46
pm 12 Orca Northbound by McMullen Point, Campbell River.
John
Lewis, Discovery Marine Safaris.
October 2:
7:30 am 4 Killer Whales Northbound by Deepwater Bay, Discovery Passage
Jos
Krijnen, Eagle Eye Adventures.
October
2:
6:30
pm At least 4 Orca sighted Northbound by Myrtle Rocks, just South of
Powell River. They were doing long dives against the Texada shore, by
the mine then 2 popped up close in to shore. There's at least one big
male.
Jim
Southern, Powell River
October 1:
12:00
pm Radio transmission report of possible Southbound Killer Whales in
Plumper Cove. Probably in Seymour Narrows by now. No numbers and no
response to request for more info.
Nick
Templeman, Campbell River Whale and Bear Excursions.
October
1:
1:01
pm Orca spotted Southbound by Maude Island, Seymour Narrows.
Geord
Dunstan, Discovery Marine Safaris.
September
30:
5:22
pm 5 – 10 Orca spotted moving Northbound off the Walcan Seafood
Site, Campbell River.
Geoff,
Discovery Marine Safaris.
September
30:
5:37
pm. Orca at Maude Island, Seymour Narrows, Northbound. Looked like
T19B.
6:12
pm. About 7 Orca in total.
6:19
pm Leaving the Orca in Deepwater Bay, Northbound and tracking PWS
Dolphins.
Garry
Henkel, Aboriginal Journeys Whales and Grizzly Bears Tours.
September
30:
5:40
pm 2 Orca Northbound in Seymour Narrows.
Fabian,
Way West Water Taxi.
Transient
Bigg's Orca 2013
Showing
the white underside of tail
Nick
Templeman, Campbell River Whale and Bear Excursions
UNIDENTIFIED
ORCA
(Either
Southern Resident or Transient Bigg's)
September
19: (rec'd late)
12
pm 7 – 8 Orca It was low tide, calm waters. The Orca gathered at
the South end of Samsun Narrows, started to proceed North one of the
larger ones stayed on the side of Saltspring Island. The other groups
were divided into two adults and a calf and another group of three to
four adults. They proceeded to travel North across Maple Bay then
appeared to cut across open water North of Vesuvius and the last we
saw them they appeared to be heading to the North end of Saltspring.
Martin
McDonald, Saltspring Island
HUMPBACK
WHALES
October
3:
2:11
pm 3 Humpback Whales midway between Detwiller Point on Valdez Island
and Thrasher Rock, in the Gulf Islands.
Colin,
Pacific Yellowfin
September
29:
9:55
am Humpback Whale moving back and forth between Texada Island and
Powell River. Been watching it for at least 10 minutes. I first
noticed a huge splash, (breach – SM) even in the rough
water; then saw the tail a few times. It looked big.
Leigh
Stewart, Powell River
September
29:
10:20
am Saw Humpback Whale only once heading South into the bay just above
VanAnda, Texada Island. Never did see flukes, just blow and back, but
definitely a Humpback.
Steve
Grover, Powell River
PACIFIC
WHITE SIDED DOLPHINS
Pacific
White Sided Dolphins
2013
Nick
Templeman, Campbell River Whale and Bear Excursions
October 3:
9:57
am 30 PWS Dolphins milling around in Kanish Bay, Discovery Passage.
4:01
pm 301 or so PWS Dolphins at Point 45, just South of Kanish Bay.
Garry
Henkel, Aboriginal Journeys Whales and Grizzly Bears Tours.
October
3:
12:37
pm 300 PWS Dolphins widely distributed around Howe Island, at the
entrance to Nodales.
John,
Discovery Marine Safaris.
October
3:
3:36
pm 300 PWS Dolphins traveling South by Kanish Bay, Discovery Passage.
Leif
Nordman, Campbell River Whale Watching.
October
2:
8:50
am PWS Dolphins by Plumper Cove, Discovery Pass.
Radio
October
2:
9:14
am At least 100 PWS Dolphins traveling Northbound at 10 knots off
McMullen Point, Discovery Passage.
4:21
pm 200 PWS Dolphins at Point 45, south of Kanish Bay, Discovery
Passage.
Garry
Henkel, Aboriginal Journeys Whales and Grizzly Bears Tours.
October
1:
All
Day: Lots and Lots of PWS Dolphins in Discovery Passage. From
Fishermen talking.
Radio
September
30:
9:45
am 200 PWS Dolphins milling around in Kanish Bay, Discovery Passage.
4:58
pm 500 PWS Dolphins at Deepwater Bay, Discovery Passage.
Garry
Henkel, Aboriginal Journeys Whales and Grizzly Bears Tours.
September
30:
5:14
pm Hundreds of PWS Dolphins North of Brown's Bay, Southbound and
foraging.
Fabian,
Way West Water Taxi.
September
29:
9:27
am 500 PWS Dolphins by Deepwater Bay, Discovery Passage.
Aaron
Webber, Campbell River Whale Watching.
September
29:
1:42
pm Hundreds of PWS Dolphins at Seymour Narrows.
Fabian,
Way West Water Taxi.
September
29:
2:03
pm Fabian speaks the truth! Many many many heaps of PWS Dolphins in
Seymour Narrows now.
Aaron
Nagler, Sonora Lodge.
September
28:
10:00
am 20 PWS Dolphins Eastbound at Davis Point in Nodales Channel,
leading us to 1001 PWS Dolphins between Sonora Point, Nodales
Channel, John’s Point and Frederick’s Arm. It was dolphin soup!
Nick
Templeman, Campbell River Whale and Bear Excursions.
September
28:
3:19
pm Lots! 500 PWS Dolphins sighted at Gomer Island at the entrance to
Frederick’s Arm, top of Nodales Channel.
Aaron
Webber, Campbell River Whale Watching.
September
27:
8
AM Saw a small number of dolphins off Mullen Point in Lang Bay, South
of Powell River.
Michael
Stewart, Powell River
Pacific
White Sided Dolphin
2013
Garry
Henkel, Aboriginal Journeys Whales and Grizzly Bears Tours
DALL’S
PORPOISE
October
2:
2:46
pm 7 Dall’s Porpoise spotted off Lawrence Point, Bute Inlet.
Garry
Henkel, Aboriginal Journeys Whales and Grizzly Bears Tours.
Presentation
and Talk
Pinnipeds:
Seals and Sealions
Malaspina
Naturalist Club is an associate member of BC Nature. Everyone is
welcome.
Thursday, October 24th
- Doors open at 7:00 pm - Speaker
begins at 7:30 pm
Trinity Hall, United
Church, Powell River
Susan MacKay will be
talking about Pinnipeds: the classification refers to the marine
mammals that have front and rear flippers such as Seals, Sea Lions
and Walrus. Of the 33 species globally,
there are five species of Pinnipeds that frequent our local BC waters
while a few of the others migrate through our waters, to and from
their breeding grounds. While some of these are considered true
seals, some are not. Apart from local species information, Susan
will talk about their cute and quirky behaviours
as well as specifics of how they relate to nature's balance in our
oceans.
Susan MacKay
is the founder of Whales and Dolphins BC and is
the President of the non-profit Wild Ocean
Whale Society (WOWs). She is also a member of the
Marine Mammal Response Network responding to injured dead or
distressed marine mammals.
Have you seen a whale,
dolphin or porpoise?
Call 1-877-323-9776
or Email
your report.
Every sighting report
is valuable!
Whales
and Dolphins BC is officially the non-profit Wild Ocean
Whale Society (WOWs)