Whale
and Dolphin activity appears to be up everywhere. With the
proliferation of food, both the fish and meat eaters have plenty to
chose from.
We
are busy working on doing a few updates and found that we had glitch
with our toll free, which we believe is now fixed. We are still
waiting to hear about the maps promised us of all the sightings.
There will be more information in the next report.
People
have been asking about all the Sea Lion activity in our waters. They
are busy feeding on the abundant herring in the area and use
co-operative efforts to feed on them. When they have nice full
bellies, they quite frequently hang about in what we call rafts and
cool off by holding their flippers in the air or play. Sometimes we
receive reports of Orca when it's actually Sea Lion flippers. When
the water is calm, they have a great ability to fool us, so keep your
eyes open and remember to give us a call!
Susan
MacKay & Lynne Cracknell, Whales
and Dolphins BC
Every
sighting report is valuable
Have
you seen a whale, dolphin or porpoise?
Pacific
White Sided Dolphins
Powell
River, March 23, 2014
Susan
MacKay, SG Images
UNIDENTIFIED
KILLER WHALES
March
25:
12:20
pm: Orca off the Hump, just off the Cape Mudge Lighthouse on Quadra
Island, hunting Seals.
From
Radio.
March
23:
12:50
pm: Seven plus Orca (one male) foraging at the Hump, near the Cape
Mudge Lighthouse, Quadra Island.
(Original
report from Fisherman)
Jack
Springer, Campbell River Whale Watching.
March
23:
5:20
pm: There are Orca being very playful in front of the ferry. Campbell River. They are
southbound.
Jack
Springer, Campbell River Whale Watching.
March
22:
9:45
am: Three Orca southbound off Westview towards Grief Point, Powell
River, tight to the shore from my sister and granddaughter, Nyla.
Judy
Brant, Powell River
March
22:
10
am 3 Orca moving pretty quickly towards Grief Point. There were no
big dorsals (males) and they were tight to shore. There's lots of sea
lion activity and they didn't seem too concerned, but they were even
tighter to shore.
Liz
Douglas, Powell River
PACIFIC
WHITE SIDED DOLPHINS
Pacific
White Sided Dolphins
Powell
River, March 23, 2014
Susan
MacKay, SG Images
March
24:
6:45
pm: There are around 200 PWS dolphins foraging around between Texada
Island and Rebecca Rocks.
Steve
Grover.Powell River.
March
24:
7:30
pm: By the way, the Dolphins are still out there! They are heading
back towards Texada now.
Susan
MacKay, Whales and Dolphins BC
March
23:
2:52
pm 3 to 5 Porpoise or Dolphins – smaller than Orca for sure,
feeding just off the anchored sailboat by the sea walk.
Shirley
Randall, Powell River
March
23:
2:55
pm 5 smaller animals (turned out to be PWS Dolphins) angling back and
forth towards the viewpoint.
Liz
Douglas, Powell River
March
23:
3:20
pm: PWS Dolphins reported in Powell River. Going to check.
3:40
pm: Initial report had 3 - 5 which I stopped to look for and saw from
the viewpoint. Found 30 plus coming quickly from below VanAnda,
Texada. They flew by making a bee line North-West towards Vivian
Rocks. Waiting a bit to see if there are any more coming around Grief
Point or if they're being chased by Orca.
4:00
pm: Another 20 or so between Vananda and Grief Point, moving slow.
5:20
pm: Never got close enough to either group for a really good photo –
thank goodness for telephoto lenses. The first group were moving fast
and I lost track of them, the second group turned back down
Malaspina, foraging. I went back to the harbour!
Susan
MacKay, Whales and Dolphins BC
Pacific
White Sided Dolphins
Powell
River, March 23, 2014
Susan
MacKay, SG Images
GRAY
WHALES
March
21:
12:30
– 2:00 pm: Gray whales farther off the coast today, about 1/2 to 2
miles from the lighthouse past Mara Rock. (That's about 5 miles out
of Ucluelet, on the West Coast.) Lots of Grays going by, but not in
such a hurry, so many tails up as they dived. It was great here
today, also, frost first thing this morning, but wonderful sunshine
all day again. Very calm waters out there in the open, maybe one
meter swells but very far apart. And no wind really. A non typical
Spring day in Ukee!
Don
McBain, North Vancouver visiting Ucluelet
March
20:
12:30
– 2:00 pm: About half a dozen Gray whales east and west of Mara
Rock, travelling west on the northern migration. They were motoring
so all we could see was blows, of course, heads, and a couple of
backs.
Don
McBain. North Vancouver visiting Ucluelet.
Pacific
White Sided Dolphins
Powell
River, March 23, 2014
Susan
MacKay, SG Images
LINKS
IN THE NEWS:
Thanks
to Michael Stewart who sent us this next video, a graphic encounter
between excited boaters, exhausted sea lions, and hunting Orca –
all off the coast of Prince Rupert a few days ago.
Another
link to the same event, this time from the Telegraph newspaper in the
U.K!
?v=10152001039285547http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/10719399/Family-capture-rare-close-up-footage-of-killer-whale-hunt.html#disqus_thread
Some
great overhead footage courtesy of the CTV News helicopter showing a
large pod of Pacific White Sided Dolphins chasing herring in the
Strait of Georgia on March 21st.
Pacific
White Sided Dolphins
Powell
River, March 23, 2014
Susan
MacKay, SG Images
Have
you seen a whale, dolphin or porpoise?
Every
sighting report is valuable!
We
are the non-profit Wild Ocean Whale Society