Albino Grey and Humpback Whales. and even an Orca have once again been in the news. The best known is called Migaloo, the Humpback whale and the most recently confirmed is a Grey whale seen along the Baja peninsula. We too had one report a few issues back of a possible white whale in the Georgia Strait, but without photos, we could only list it as possible. The herring spawn seems to have brought relatively few whales and dolphins into the area, or perhaps these intelligent animals are purposely avoiding the fishing fleet. Susan MacKay, Wild Ocean Whale Society
Albino Grey Whale
More info in our Magazine section below
Society News
Our April 22, 2016 Earth Day Fundraising Event including buffet dinner, live music and some fun fundraising activities is scheduled for Powell River at the Beach Gardens Resort and Marina's PowWow Banquet Room. Tickets are $20.00 each and available at Beach Gardens and Hindle's Gifts or through our Society Members. This will be our first location for our Real Time Marine Wildlife Monitoring system which will stream on line, once all resources are available.
Our GoFundMe Campaign to help us out with our Real Time Monitoring Stations can be accessed at:
https://www.gofundme.com/WOWsociety
For those of you who utilize and check our Map Archives, you will notice that we have been working, as time permits, on adding our older 2015 sightings reports to these maps. It is through the great work of our dedicated volunteer analysts, who we can't say thank you enough to! We are always looking for volunteers interested in Cetacea and mapping, who would be willing to spend some time with our growing Society network.
Review our current Volunteer Job Postings
For our DONATE page click here
Have you seen a whale, dolphin or porpoise?
We are the non-profit Wild Ocean Whale Society
Call
1-877-323-9776
Sightings Update
SIGHTINGS MAP 2016-006
UNIDENTIFIED KILLER WHALES
Tue Mar 08 2016
15:39 • Orca in front of Campbell River closer to Quadra Island in Discovery Passage. The Ferry has slowed to watch them.
15:36 • 10 Orca heading North in Discovery Passage.
Jack Springer, Campbell River Whale Watching
Mon Feb 29 2016
18:02 • 4-5 Orca heading North-West in Jervis Inlet off of Agnew Passage. ▫ From Ferry
Kent Jenkins
08:35 • Orca moving fast on the east side of Texada Island down beyond Raven Bay in Malaspina Strait.
Candi Little
08:25 • 4-5 Orca heading South off the shores of Texada Island in Malaspina Strait. Off of the old quarry.
Candi Little Texada
Sat Feb 27 2016
13:30 • 10 Orca at Grant's reef off of Savary Island in the Strait of Georgia. At least 2 males and several calves.
Fabien Minfray, Campbell River
10:43 • 10 Orca heading North at Grant Reefs off of Savary Island in the middle of Shearwater Passage.
Fabien Minfray, Campbell River Whale Watching
09:05 • Orca west of Texada Island in Strait of Georgia. Spotted from aircraft. No other details. ▫ Second Hand
Derek Poole
Fri Feb 26 2016
13:30 • 1 Orca hunting, heading North close to the shoreline of Halfmoon Bay across from Merry Island in Welcome Passage. Looked like a larger Transient as there were no other visible whales. ▫ Observed from Shore
Carol Donohoe, Halfmoon Bay BC
Tue Feb 16 2016
09:00 • 8 Orca beyond Entrance Island in the Srait of Georgia. Observed from Orlebar Point. Feeding about 2 kilometres out. Saw three large
dorsal fins. They were in this vicinity for at least two hours between 8 - 10 a.m. ▫ Observed from Shore
Elsa Bluethner
PACIFIC WHITE SIDED DOLPHINS
Thu Feb 25 2016
16:06 • PWS Dolphins off Powell River in Malaspina Strait. Off of Westview Wharf.
Michelle Pennell, Powell River, BC
Pacific White Sided Dolphins
Thu Feb 25 2016 - 3 Images / Media Files
Michelle Pennell, Powell River, BC
Pacific White Sided Dolphins
Thu Feb 25 2016 - 3 Images / Media Files
Michelle Pennell, Powell River, BC
SIGHTINGS HEAT MAP 2016-006
The Magazine
Gray whales are making their way south from the cold rich waters of the Bearing Sea off Alaska to the warm waters of Mexico. This issue features articles and videos along the Gray Whale migration route where the whales are stopping off at Whidbey Island in Puget Sound to feast on Ghost Shrimp, volunteer whale spotters on the bluffs of Ventura County in Southern California are carrying out the annual whale count, and an albino Gray whale and her calf are back in Baja California, Mexico.
Also in this issue:
... local enthusiasts are busy capturing videos of Humpback whales
... what are whales doing at night?
... Quirks and Quarks looks at Whale Slurpees
... and Australian dolphins are having fun with octopus.
Enjoy
Also in this issue:
... local enthusiasts are busy capturing videos of Humpback whales
... what are whales doing at night?
... Quirks and Quarks looks at Whale Slurpees
... and Australian dolphins are having fun with octopus.
Enjoy
Map Credits: Journey North Citizen Science
REGIONAL & WEST COAST
CHEK News, BC
A small pod of whales shows every year like clock work, looking to gorge on an all you can eat shrimp buffet.
About 25 years ago, a very small group of Gray whales began to make a 200 kilometre detour on their way to Mexico and travel to Saratoga Passage, off the waters of Whidbey Island in Puget Sound....
Ventura County Star, CA
For the past 12 years, a teams of volunteers have spent day after day from February to May on an overlook at Coal Oil Point Reserve.
They watch as gray whales make their way back north after spending the winter in lagoons off the coast of Mexico.
Close to 20,000 gray whales make the annual migration past Ventura County — one of the longest of any mammal.
Pete Thomas Outdoors Blog
A gray whale believed to be albino has been documented in Scammon’s Lagoon in Baja California, Mexico, for the first time in at least three years.
The same whale was spotted in 2008 and 2009, as a juvenile. It might also have been spotted in 2013, according to at least one report.
This time, though, the white whale is traveling with her calf...
Powel River Peak, BC
Over the past three years, humpback whales have been spending more time in the area, and Jude Abrams and Terry Brown have found themselves watching and learning as much from these animals as possible.
On The Island, CBC News, BC
The raccoons spend day and night on the shoreline, gorging on seafood, which has had a detrimental effect on the intertidal ecosystem.
By scaring the raccoons' away with the sound of barking dogs, researchers found that raccoons substantially reduce their foraging and the beach came back to life with a huge benefit for the crabs and fish that they eat.
CANADA
EARTH TOUCH
A rare Cuvier's beaked whale died shortly after stranding on a New Brunswick beach in early February, and local experts recently performed a necropsy to figure out what went wrong.
Quirks and Quarks,
CBC Radio
CBC Radio
Baleen whales may have evolved from suction feeders.
INTERNATIONAL
MANDURAH COASTAL TIMES, Australia
A DOLPHIN researcher took these amazing pictures of a Mandurah dolphin playing with an octopus last week.
PHD candidate Krista Nicholson, who took the photos, said she had seen dolphins take part in an “octopus toss” before, but it was unusual to get pictures.
“It’s not unheard of for dolphins to do this, but it’s not a regular occurrence” she said.
“We haven’t seen them (Mandurah dolphins) actually consume an octopus. .....
Autodesk Blog
A group of artists and technicians visited a remote site on the south of Spitsbergen to 3D-scan the remains of beluga whales that were caught there in large numbers about a century ago. Their work resulted in a unique art installation in tribute ...
Scientific American
New technology helps researchers make better nighttime observations and devise conservation plans for the aquatic mammals
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For our DONATE page click here
Have you seen a whale, dolphin or porpoise?
We are the non-profit Wild Ocean Whale Society
Call
1-877-323-9776