What
a pleasure to finally see the Northern Resident Orca known as the
A42's back in the area where the calf A103 'Albion' was born, Powell
River. Since we had so much tidal debris such as logs in the area of
Malaspina Strait, any whales that passed were out on the Georgia
Strait side of Texada and Harwood. Now that the debris has
dissipated, we are finally getting whales back in the areas closer to
shore from where we seem to receive the majority of reports. Southern
Resident Orca, J-Pod, as of today are also working their way up
Malaspina Strait. We have had so few sightings reports come in and we
had been feeling left out (LOL). Some other Orca, Pacific White Sided
Dolphins and Links in the News complete this report.
In
the meantime, we have also been working hard with our Society Annual
General meeting coming up. We'll look forward to updating you soon.
Susan
MacKay & Lynne Cracknell, Whales and Dolphins BC
Have
you seen a whale, dolphin or porpoise?
Every
sighting report is valuable!
NORTHERN
RESIDENT KILLER WHALES
 |
| A66 'Surf' shows off beautiful tail |
 |
| A42 'Sonora' in middle with two of her offspring |
Northern
Resident Orca – A42's
January
14, 2015 – 4 photos
Susan
MacKay, SG Images
Jan
14:
1:59
pm: 5 Orca off south west corner of Harwood Island, no apparent
direction yet. Just popped up in front of CG Cutter, Cape Caution.
Eric
Green, Powell River
January
14:
2
pm - ish: I grabbed gear and headed out to see about some ID's. Huge
thanks to crew of the Cape Caution who pointed me in the right
direction off the end of Harwood. Rounding the point towards Vivian I
picked up the A42's. They stayed quite close to the Harwood Island
shore slowly working their way around the island.
3:35
pm: After dropping the hydrophone, I heard some very distant Orca
vocals which were definitely not Northern Resident calls, but
couldn't quite hear enough over a distant boat to tell if the calls
were Transient Bigg's or Southern Resident calls. I scanned out
towards the center of Georgia Strait and spotted a couple of big
dorsals in the distance, but too far to tell any more than that. I
tried the hydrophone a few more times. It was quiet except for a very
few faint squeaks and clicks of echolocation from the A42's. They
behaved as if they were hiding staying tight to shore all the while.
4
pm Just off Harwood Spit now still continuing around slowly. Left the
5 Northern Resident Killer Whales A42's tucked right up to the
south-east corner of Harwood Island shore across from the Powell
River Mill. It was a cold, but gratifying run out on the water.
Susan
MacKay, Whales and Dolphins B.C.
Northern
Resident Orca – A42's
January
14, 2015
Elaine
Sorensen – taken from CG Cutter Cape Caution
SOUTHERN
RESIDENT KILLER WHALES
January
15:
Satellite
tagged J27 with the rest of J-Pod have found their way back up
Malaspina Strait and with their last position noted close to the Lang
Bay, south of Powell River area. Map and information courtesy NOAA
where you can find additional information including the prior map
showing their travels in the Georgia Strait up past Savary Island and
to Cape Mudge and back down the Strait:
http://www.nwfsc.noaa.gov/research/divisions/cb/ecosystem/marinemammal/satellite_tagging/blog2015.cfm
Jan
14:
3:35
pm: Got more Orca out in the Strait closer to Vancouver Island. I
think they are Transient Bigg's but the calls are too distant to be
100% certain. (Note: This sighting has been moved up to Southern
Resident Killer Whales based on the above update although there is a
possibility that the calls heard were Transient Bigg's - SM)
Susan
MacKay, Whales and Dolphins B.C.
Southern
Resident J27 Track
January
12 - 15, 2015
NOAA
UNIDENTIFIED
KILLER WHALES
Jan
5:
3:30
pm: I saw approximately 6 Orca swimming between
Entrance Island and Gabriola Island, probably
less that 1/2 km out. You could see them clear as day. They
were headed towards Nanaimo, north bound. There was a cluster of 5 or
6 varying in sizes and one large male, this guy
was really big, following behind them. I don't know enough to
give you more information. They were beautiful to watch.
Is
there a way to tell the difference between Resident and Transient?
They didn't appear to be hunting just swimming past. There was
however a seal on high alert as they swam by. The seal is actually
how I first noticed them. Usually the seals in that area bob up and
down and watch me on the rocks. I have noticed the last month or so
that there are fewer seals in that particular area. I did find a dead
one on the beach a few months ago. The seal popped his head up but
was looking out instead of at me, he only stayed up for a few seconds
then went under. When he came back up he was stretching up as high as
he could to see. That is when I saw the fins as well. I walked away
in case he was scared to jump on the rock with me there LOL. I didn't
want to see anything if it were going to happen. The whales showed no
interest in the seal or me. They just swam by at a pretty quick pace.
Hopefully this helps a bit.
Angela
Prive, Gabriola Island
In
response to Angela's question:
Not
an easy answer to your question. It takes a keen eye since they look
so similar. Many Transient Bigg's have more triangular / pointed
shaped dorsals, but not all. Many of the Southern Residents have open
saddle patches, but not all. It takes really knowing the animals and
seeing and studying them over time, and even then we can sometimes be
fooled until we verify with a photo and compare their scratches and
markings to the identification catalogues or manage to hear them
communicate by means of a hydrophone. There are well over 300
Transient Bigg's, 78 (now with J50) Southern Residents, and over 300
Northern Residents. Then we sometimes get a few up from California in
the winters and spring to really confuse us!
Susan
MacKay, Whales and Dolphins B.C.
PACIFIC
WHITE SIDED DOLPHINS
Jan
4:
9:55
am: My husband and I were sailing from Nanaimo to Gibsons on January
2nd
2015 and at 1:45 pm we believe we saw a pod of Pacific White Sided
Dolphins. I would estimate there were over 100 Dolphins. At first we
thought it was a giant wave coming towards us and were pleasantly
surprised when we saw the playful Dolphins. It was a great way to
start the year. Thought you might enjoy these videos. I have also
attached a couple of photos. The photo are gps stamped as well if
that is helpful.
Kaitlin
and Dave Ellis S/V Cutty Too.
Pacific
White Sided Dolphins
January
4, 2015 – 3 photos
Kaitlin
and Dave Ellis S/V Cutty Too
LINKS:
A
great piece of video showing the new SRKW baby J50 traveling with J
pod through Admiralty Inlet in Puget Sound on January 10th.
The video was taken by Alisa Lemire Brooks.
How
important is it to get the garbage out of our oceans? Very important,
as this National Geographic video will show; a 45 foot long Sei whale
was killed by a discarded CD case:
Have
you seen a whale, dolphin or porpoise?
Every
sighting report is valuable!
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are the non-profit Wild Ocean Whale Society