Grey Whales, Orca, Humpbacks and Dolphins Showing Up
March 31, 2017
— issue No. 2017-007
Seeing Transient Bigg’s Orca on the mainland side of upper Georgia Strait was a real treat as they played and shared their food in front of the many vehicles that tend to stop by the shore to enjoy them. This pod has a very young calf with another juvenile that looks less than a year old. T087, an easily identified big male with a large nick at the top of his dorsal was with this pod. He had been travelling on his own last Fall which caused some concern about his wellbeing. These are social animals. These may have been the same whales seen by Campbell River in the morning.
Other Killer Whales or Orca, the terminology is interchangeable as Orca is part of their Latin name, have also been reported by Roberts Creek, in Howe Sound and up into Toba Inlet. Howe Sound has become quite active with reports of Humpback and Grey Whales, Orca and Dolphins this report. A good sign in the recovery of the area.
Susan MacKay, Wild Ocean Whale Society
Transient Bigg’s Killer Whales in front of Powell River
Society News & Events
Real Time Monitoring Station Update:
The mast is up and still in need of securing a couple of pieces to the very hard steel piling. We are still working with manufacturers on sorting out the audio noise problem. Although slow in coming, this hard fought project is becoming a reality. They say the first one is the worst! It would have been wonderful to watch today’s Orca from there.
Our team of Volunteers continue to do a great job in making sure all your reports are mapped and published regularly. Would you like to join us?
Review our current Volunteer Job Postings
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ISSUE SIGHTINGS MAP 2017-007
TRANSIENT BIGGS KILLER WHALES
Thu Mar 30 2017
18:17 • 6 Biggs Orca heading south towards Northeast Point on Texada Island, Malaspina Strait.
SIGHTING MEDIA
Transient Biggs Killer Whales
Transient Bigg’s Killer Whales sharing food in front of Powell River
Thu, 30 Mar 2017 – 4 items
SIGHTING MEDIA
Transient Biggs Killer Whales
Transient Bigg’s Killer Whales sharing food in front of Powell River
Thu, 30 Mar 2017 – 4 items
17:45 • 6 Biggs Orca heading south off Grief Point south of Powell River, Malaspina Strait. Baby in pod.
16:45 • 6-7 Biggs Orca ◦T087◦ playing, in front of Powell River Viewpoint, Malaspina Strait. A very young calf in the pod.
15:36 • 5-6 Biggs Orca heading south off Gibsons Beach just north of Powell River, Malaspina Strait. Pod includes a tiny one.
Y-Knot Sport Fishing, Powell River, BC
Fri Mar 24 2017
16:05 • est. 7 Biggs Orca moving quickly, heading south-west off Roberts Creek, Gibsons, Georgia Strait. First seen going by Roberts Creek pier just after 4 pm heading SW. Drove to Chaster Park (Gibsons) and observed 2 large orcas from the pod go by. Then drove to Gospel Rock (Gibsons) and at 5:15 pm observed the whole pod going by. Each time, they were further out in the Strait of Georgia, still heading SW. ▫ Observed from Shore
Karen Holland, Gibsons, BC
SIGHTING MEDIA
Transient Biggs Killer Whales
Seven Transient Bigg’s Killer Whale heading Southwest off of Roberts Creek
Fri, 24 Mar 2017 – 2 items
Karen Holland, Gibsons, BC
SIGHTING MEDIA
Transient Biggs Killer Whales
Seven Transient Bigg’s Killer Whale heading Southwest off of Roberts Creek
Fri, 24 Mar 2017 – 2 items
Karen Holland, Gibsons, BC
Tue Mar 21 2017
15:48 • 6 Biggs Orca heading south-east off Gabriola Island in False Narrows approaching Pylades Channel. One big bull in the group.
Pat Hill, Gabriola Island, BC
UNIDENTIFIED KILLER WHALES
Thu Mar 30 2017
17:45 • 5-6 Orca moving quickly, heading north-west between Lantzville and Maude Island, Georgia Strait. Taking 10 min dives and breached. Headed towards Schooner Cove. ▫ Observed from Shore
Blaine Froats, Lantzville, BC
08:43 • 5-6 Orca moving quickly, heading north off the Campbell River Fishing Pier, Discovery Passage.
Wed Mar 29 2017
17:30 • Orca heading south off Bullock Bluff at the north end of Cortes Island, Calm Channel.
Mon Mar 27 2017
18:06 • Orca in Okisollo Channel. Putting on a show.
11:00 • 5 Orca heading east by Brem River, Toba Inlet. Reported by a friend. ▫ Second Hand
Sun Mar 26 2017
16:00 • 1 Orca moving quickly, heading north-east about 500 meters off of Horseshoe Bay in West Vancouver, Queen Charlotte Channel. Seen 100 ft ahead from 20 ft commuter boat travelling from Gambier Island to Horseshoe Bay. ▫ On Scene
John Church, Gambier Island, BC
Fri Mar 24 2017
14:15 • est. 10 Orca frolicking, in Davis Bay, Sechelt, Georgia Strait.
Georgena Good, Sechelt, BC
Sun Mar 19 2017
–:– • Orca in Toba Inlet. Observed in the afternoon. Baby Orca in the group. Observed by a friend. ▫ Second Hand
Mon Mar 06 2017
06:40 • 1 Humpback Whales heading north off Passage Island towards Howe Sound, Queen Charlotte Channel.
Philine Scholz-Mayty,
SIGHTING MEDIA
Humpback Whales
Humpback Whale heading North up Howe Sound from Passage Island
Mon, 6 Mar 2017 – 1 items
Philine Scholz-Mayty,
SIGHTING MEDIA
Humpback Whales
Humpback Whale heading North up Howe Sound from Passage Island
Mon, 6 Mar 2017 – 1 items
Philine Scholz-Mayty,
Mon Mar 27 2017
12:49 • 2 Grey Whales heading north by Lions Bay heading into Howe Sound.
Susan Davis, Lions Bay, BC
PACIFIC WHITE SIDED DOLPHINS
Mon Mar 20 2017
12:36 • 3-4 PWS Dolphins heading north off the Powell River Viewpoint, Malaspina Strait.
Michelle Pennell, Powell River, BC
SIGHTING MEDIA
Pacific White Sided Dolphins
A small group of Pacific White Sided Dolphins heading North by the Powell River Viewpoint
Mon, 20 Mar 2017 – 4 items
Michelle Pennell, Powell River, BC
SIGHTING MEDIA
Pacific White Sided Dolphins
A small group of Pacific White Sided Dolphins heading North by the Powell River Viewpoint
Mon, 20 Mar 2017 – 4 items
Michelle Pennell, Powell River, BC
NEW! WOWs Sightings Archive Explorer
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Archive Explorer takes readers into the Cetacean world of the BC Coast. Easily view all Cetacean sighting reports together with all sighting photos and videos:
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• Follow the endangered Southern Residents Orca in the Salish Sea
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• Goto Port Alberni to watch a close-up video of Orca in the harbour
• Track the T010s Transients as they hunt and travel the inside passage
• Check-Out “KC”, the ever popular Humphack and track his whereabouts this past August
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KIRO TV News, Seattle, WA
On the second day of spring, KIRO 7’s Chopper spotted a group of orca whales, swimming above and below the water.
Daily Mail, UK
The intimate moment is extra special because whales usually nurse their young deep under the water, so visibility is limited.
The extraordinary footage was shot on Silver Bank – the main calving and breeding ground for the majority of the North Atlantic humpback whale population.
One Green Planet
Video posted on Charles Harmer’s Facebook page shows a curious orca is in its natural habitat, free to engage with the human visitors for as long as the animal feels like. Could anyone ever see that much of an orca’s true nature and behavior in an aquarium? Doubtful.
This is truly how we should learn about marine mammals – in the wild.
The Stranger, Seattle, WA
In September of 2016, the oldest living orca known to science, J2, was photographed near San Juan Island from a drone. Matriarch of the southern residents, a population of killer whales that lives in Puget Sound and is unique on the planet, J2 got her name because she was the second orca to be positively identified by scientists at the Center for Whale Research on San Juan Island during the first census of southern resident killer whales, conducted in 1976. The Center for Whale Research also assigns nicknames, and because J2 was so old when scientists first identified her, the nickname she got was “Granny.”
“We do not know her precise age because she was born long before our study began,” Ken Balcomb, the marine mammal biologist who founded the Center for Whale Research, explained. “In 1987, we estimated that she was at least 45 years old and was more likely to have been 76 years old.” By 2016, she was estimated to be somewhere from 74 to 105 years old….
UCSB, CA
Collisions have become all too frequent, as ship traffic proliferates along migratory whale routes and feeding areas. Reports of whales being struck and killed in such impacts have increased dramatically in the past 50 years.
Hoping to mitigate this growing problem, the Benioff Ocean Initiative at UC Santa Barbara has committed $1.5 million to accelerate research aimed at finding and implementing new solutions to curtail ship strikes and reduce whale mortality.
ECOWATCH
On Feb. 25, while patrolling the waters of the Gulf of California for Operation Milagro III, the M/V Sam Simon sailed through a megapod of dolphins with numbers estimated to be more than 1,000 individuals.
The elation and joy of this sight comes with the realization that many of these dolphins’ lives will be cut short due to illegal gill nets. Sea Shepherd will stay in the Gulf of California until we pull out every last illegal gill net, ensuring the safety of the inhabitants who call these waters home….
Metro News, BC
The iconic humpback whale has been the subject of thousands of scientific papers.
But it took nearly a decade for researchers in B.C. to discover something completely unexpected about the cetaceans’ seasonal movements up and down the province’s coast.
In large numbers as they migrate, humpbacks repeatedly return to certain habitats in what the researchers compared to a previously undetected "wave" pattern, according to the newly published study in the marine science journal Marine Ecology Progress Series.
And it turns out that humpbacks may be picking their favourite coastal fjords not just based on food supply, but also how well the whales’ singing sounds and how good they are for socializing, according to their thousands of hours of observations.
Globe & Mail, BC
They are some of the largest animals on Earth, and it would seem difficult not to spot them. But the greatest threat to the whales that ply the Pacific Ocean is the increasing vessel traffic that traverses what has become a marine superhighway.
A vessel strike is the most likely suspect in the death last December of an endangered killer whale found off the Sunshine Coast, north of Vancouver.
Now vessel operators have a new tool that could help them avoid whale collisions off the West Coast.
Scientists at the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have developed a program to predict where whales will be, giving vessel operators a greater chance to avoid collision.
"By the time you see a whale, it’s almost too late; and it’s probably the whale you don’t see, that’s just below the surface, that’s likely to get hit," said Helen Bailey, WhaleWatch project leader at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science.
Using decades of satellite-tracking data gathered ..
The Guardian, UK
"These creatures are in the frontline of change in the Arctic and it is clear they are having to make considerable changes in behaviour to survive, fishing further and further into open water," he says. "We need to find out urgently how significant are these changes."
At the heart of the issue lies a shortage of algae on Arctic sea ice. At this time of year algae forms on the underside of floes, as spring begins in the far north. The algae is then eaten by tiny creatures called zooplankton, and they in turn are consumed by fish that are in turn eaten by seals. Later, as the season continues and the weather warms, sea ice melts and algae sinks to the sea bed, where it nourishes a different food chain. It is consumed by worms and other simple organisms on the sea floor, and these are consumed by benthic fish – fish that live on the sea floor or near it, such as the Greenland halibut. These are then eaten by Beluga whales.
The Guardian, UK
While observing sperm whales off the Sri Lankan coast, Philip Hoare came face to face with eight hunting orcas who had no fear of the 100-strong sperm whale pod …
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