Orca have been popping
up her and there as have a few of the smaller species. There is so
much going on behind the scenes we are working on here at Whales and
Dolphins BC that we need to do a much more complete update on its own
to keep you informed. We have been kept hopping and working very hard
to improve what we do. Please bear with us as we are all non paid
volunteers and there is also the need for some of us to actually work
to make a living and pay bills.
Extremely brief
summary: Burger and Beer Night Fundraiser, Bigger and Better 2015
Summer Raffle, Presentations, Car Wash, Sea Fair, Mapping of Cetacean
movements, Live Web Camera and Hydrophone Systems, Web Site
Updating...the list goes on. We promise updates on our projects as
soon as possible in a special report on this Sightings Reports pages!
Last, but not least,
Please remember to keep the reports coming in to us. Every one is so
valuable to the monitoring of these amazing animals.
Susan
MacKay & Lynne Cracknell, Whales
and Dolphins BC
Have you seen a whale,
dolphin or porpoise?
We
are the non-profit Wild Ocean Whale Society
Here's Looking at
You Orca
Garry Henkel,
Aboriginal Journeys Whale & Wildlife Tours
TRANSIENT
BIGG'S KILLER WHALES
March 14:
Report heard on Global
News of around ten Transient Bigg's Orca hunting Sea Lions in the
waters in Northwest Bay, between Parksville and Nanaimo on Vancouver
Island today. See Links below for clip.
Susan MacKay, Whales
and Dolphins B.C.
March 7:
8:00 am: About 6 Orca
off Willow Point, which is just south of Campbell River, angling
northbound towards the Cape Mudge lighthouse on Quadra Island.
8:16 am: There are
about 10 Orca – they are spread out across Johnstone Strait with at
least 2 big fins, moving pretty quickly with the ebb tide.
Elvis, Eagle Eye
Adventures.
March 7:
10:40 am: Found Orca by
Separation Head, Quadra Island. I have Transient Bigg's T18 and T19B
in the mix.
10:58 am: They are
almost to Elk Bay, Vancouver Island side of the strait, now.
11:38 am: I have four
animals in total including T018's, T19B and T19C. Just coming up to
Chatham Point now. That is at the junction of Johnstone Strait and
Discovery Passage.
There are some Dall's
Porpoise running ahead about half a mile.
1:00 pm: They have all
shown up by the Walkem Islands. I have the Transient Bigg's T060's,
and T018's, T19B, ten animals in total.
Nick Templeman,
Campbell River Bear and Whale Excursions.
UNIDENTIFIED
KILLER WHALES
March 15:
6:25 pm One big male
Orca spotted from shore. Campbell River. Looked like possibly heading North, but
didn't have a chance to stop. He's the only one I could spot.
Elvis, Eagle Eye
Adventures
March 15:
4:45 pm: Five Orca
sighted off Royston, close to Comox, on Vancouver Island. There was
no direction given.
Aaron Webber,
Campbell River Whale Watching
March 13:
4:30 pm: Four or five
Orca heading south through Dodd's Narrows. (see Links for a video
clip and possible Transient Bigg's Identifications we obtained.- SM)
Moira Parkinson.
March 8:
My family and I sighted
a pod of Orca heading south off the coast in the French Creek area,
just south of Qualicum Beach on the east coast of Vancouver Island.
A few jumped totally in the air and at least one was slapping his
tail vigorously. Two or three seemed to have large fins, and there
was one very small fin. We could see at least 7 whales at a time.
(We believe these to be Transient Bigg's but cannot confirm at this
time - SM)
Emily
Parker.
March 11 (Received
report)
I am reporting this so
late as I've just found your site. Rob and I were out on the boat the
last week of August, 2014 when we came across a pod of three whales,
one being a calf. They were traveling towards Powell River just south
of Lund at the Iron Mines, so we stayed with them while they stopped
to eat, presumably, very close to shore. The exciting part happened
when we turned off the motor near Emmonds Bay and they came towards
the boat and stayed with us for one hour while feeding. Then the
female turned over belly up and then sideways and appeared to nurse
the calf for a few minutes. We felt so blessed that they were
comfortable enough with us to do this. The bad news is my phone
camera battery was too weak to take pics. Another small boat with a
family of 5 putted over and they took some photos and videos. They
sent me a couple which I will try to get to you but then their
computer crashed and I never got the precious video that I am sure
was amazing. Is this the calf from the Transient Bigg's?
Liz and Rob
Verwoord, Savary Island
PACIFIC
WHITE SIDED DOLPHINS
March 1:
See links below for
video clip of Pacific White Sided Dolphins just South of Powell
River.
Kimmy
Faerie. Powell River
DALL'S
PORPOISE
March 7:
1:00 pm: Group of
Dall's Porpoise have gone into hiding in behind the Walkem Islands,
which are just off East Thurlow Island, staying out of the way of a
pod of Transient Bigg's Orca coming up behind them.
Nick Templeman,
Campbell River Bear and Whale Excursions.
LINKS
March 13: Video clip
from the Orca in Dodd's Narrows (Josh McInnes felt pretty sure that
the ones in here were the Transient Bigg's Orca known as the T137's):
Exciting times for
whale watchers in Vancouver this week as Transient Bigg's Orca
visited Deep Cove and then continued up into Burrard Inlet and right
up as far as Stanley Park. The following are various links to these
sightings. These whales were identified thanks to Josh McInnes as the
T124's and T086's who were last reported by Powell River:
Thanks
to Randy Hodge for the two video links below of the same Orca:
Thanks
to Kimmy Faerie for this great video of large numbers of Pacific
White Sided Dolphins sighted near Powell River on March 1st:
A
fascinating video documenting what appears to be purely altruistic
behaviour on the part of Humpback Whales:
An
older but very good link to a good compilation of video clips from
the Sechelt area of the Sunshine Coast of BC:
A
whale watching group in Mexico was accidentally rammed by a surfacing
Gray Whale, resulting in the tragic death of a Canadian women and
significant injuries to some other passengers on board. A reminder to
us all to be very cautious when travelling in waters where whales are
known to exist. Watch for blows, reduce speed, and please slow right
down, for your safety as well as the whale's.
Have
you seen a whale, dolphin or porpoise?
Every
sighting report is valuable!
We
are the non-profit Wild Ocean Whale Society
For
our DONATE
page click here.