Wishing you all the very best of the Holidays with health and happiness in the New Year!
Inclement weather and the holdiay season has slowed reported Sightings, but there are still whales, including Humpbacks in our inside waters. The Pacific White Sided Dolphins have been showing up and seem to be on the move in and out of the areas while they appear to avoid some stealthy Orca, who we did not receive photos or IDs on. The whales, dolphins and porpoise are out there, so keep your eyes open, it’s a big ocean out there.
We thank you for your continued reporting as each and every sightings report is valuable! And with our new WOWs Archive Explorer map you can easily see where these whales travel.
Susan MacKay, Wild Ocean Whale Society
This may not be new, but they are Amazing Snow Sculptures
With all the snow forecasts – have you made a ‘Snow Whale’?
Harbin China Snow Festival
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NEW! WOWs Sightings Archive Explorer
Recommended for desktop browsers and newer mobile devices
Dive into over 5,000 Cetacean Sightings, images, videos and audio recordings reported in our Sightings Updates with the WOWS Sightings Archive Explorer
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:
• View species such as Humpback, Grey Whale or Dalls Porpoise
• Follow the endangered Southern Residents Orca in the Salish Sea
• Search for encounters with T002C2 Tumbo
• 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
• Goto one of 12,000 named locations on the BC and WA State coast
• Print custom sighting reports and maps (Coming Soon)
Explore this powerfull new research tool with the Archive Explorer Help page
Note: The Cetacean Sightings Archive is also available in database format together with sighting photo and video links for viewing, query and download here
Send your Comments and Questions to: Archive Explorer Feedback
ISSUE SIGHTINGS MAP 2016-040
TRANSIENT BIGGS KILLER WHALES
Mon Dec 19 2016
15:40 • Biggs Orca heading South towards Powell River Westview Harbour, Malaspina Strait.
Candi Little, Texada Island, BC
13:08 • est. 6 Biggs Orca back and forth, East of Rebecca Rocks, Malaspina Strait. ▫ Observed from Shore
UNIDENTIFIED KILLER WHALES
Tue Dec 13 2016
13:50 • 4 Orca heading North near Campbell River Fishing Pier, Discovery Passage.
Thu Dec 08 2016
09:40 • 4 Orca heading North by Cape Mudge Red Can Buoy off Wilby Shoals, Georgia Strait. Heading towards Cape Mudge lighthouse; seen from Willow Point. Possibly more than 4 in the group. ▫ Observed from Shore
Mon Dec 19 2016
16:19 • 2 Humpback Whales off Sliammon, Malaspina Strait. Sea Lions with the whales. I think there must be food there. They were closer in at Klahaine shore.
14:05 • 2 Humpback Whales heading North off Sliammon. Reported by Derek. ▫ Second Hand
Michelle Pennell, Powell River, BC
Fri Dec 16 2016
14:45 • Humpback Whales at the head of Beaver Cove, Broughton Strait.
14:30 • Humpback Whales between Coho / Kiddie Point and Crescent Bay, Georgia Strait. Observed what looked like small blows, sprays out in the water. From photos submitted dorsal looks like Humpback Whales – SM. ▫ Observed from Shore
Candi Little, Texada Island, BC
Thu Dec 15 2016
09:45 • Humpback Whales heading South off Harwood Island, Malaspina Strait. Long way out.
Michelle Pennell, Powell River, BC
Wed Dec 14 2016
10:50 • Humpback Whales off South side of Savary Island, Malaspina Strait. Seeing blows; don’t know if it’s Humpbacks or Orca. Later determined they were Humpback Whales.
Michelle Pennell, Powell River, BC
Tue Dec 13 2016
15:15 • 2 Humpback Whales moving slowly, heading West North of Hammond Bay and East of Nanoose Bay, Georgia Strait. I live at 195 Heritage Drive in North Nanaimo, just up from the water front homes on Filinger drive. I observed the pair from my kitchen window. They were slowly swimming West and taking shallow dives as they were only under the surface for less then two minutes each time. One was bigger then the other, and were swimming very close together. I’m assuming they were a mother and baby. ▫ Observed from Shore
Bob Marocchi, Nanaimo
Sun Dec 11 2016
15:30 • 1 Humpback Whales travelling, heading North-East between Gabriola Island and Entrance Island, Georgia Strait. Another couple at the beach also saw it and confirmed that it was a Humpback. Observed the tail.
Suzi Volk,
Fri Dec 09 2016
08:30 • 2 Humpback Whales playing, in front of Powell River, Malaspina Strait. Lots of tail flips. In the area for about two hours.
Sherri Wretham, Powell River, BC
Thu Dec 08 2016
15:49 • 3 Humpback Whales at the Cape Mudge Red Can Buoy off Wilby Shoals, Georgia Strait. Right on the reefs.
14:47 • 2 Humpback Whales heading North between Rebecca Rocks and Texada Island, Malaspina Strait. ▫ Observed from Shore
Michelle Pennell, Powell River, BC
SIGHTING MEDIA
Humpback Whales
Two Humpback Whales in front of the Powell River Viewpoint
Thu, 8 Dec 2016 – 4 items
Michelle Pennell, Powell River, BC
SIGHTING MEDIA
Humpback Whales
Two Humpback Whales in front of the Powell River Viewpoint
Thu, 8 Dec 2016 – 4 items
Michelle Pennell, Powell River, BC
11:23 • 2 Humpback Whales moving quickly, heading North close to Campbell River, Discovery Passage. ▫ Observed from Shore
Jeanne Ralston, Campbell River, BC
11:22 • 2 Humpback Whales heading South near Black (Albion) Point, Malaspina Strait. Turned around. ▫ Observed from Shore
11:19 • Humpback Whales heading North passing by Black (Albion) Point. ▫ Observed from Shore
Lorna Rutledge, Powell River, BC
11:13 • 1 Humpback Whales heading South toward Grief Point, Powell River, Malaspina Strait. ▫ Observed from Shore
Barry Pennell, Powell River, BC
09:57 • 2 Humpback Whales heading South off Grief Point, Powell River. ▫ Observed from Shore
John and Joan Treen, Powell River and Savary Island, BC
09:47 • 2 Humpback Whales out front of Powell River Viewpoint, Malaspina Strait.
Michelle Pennell, Powell River, BC
Tue Dec 06 2016
–:– • 4 Humpback Whales out from Rebecca Rocks, Georgia Strait. Toward Vancouver Island. ▫ Observed from Shore
John and Joan Treen, Powell River and Savary Island, BC
Mon Nov 21 2016
–:– • 1 Humpback Whales heading West North of Hammond Bay and West of Lantzville, Georgia Strait. This past Nov 21st my wife and I saw a lone Humpback swimming West. After about 20 minutes, it had turned direction and was heading back to the East. We have lived in the house for over twenty years,and have seen dolphins and Orca from our house. Nov 21st was the first time we have seen a Humpback whale from our house. This is very exciting for sure. ▫ Observed from Shore
Bob Marocchi, Nanaimo
PACIFIC WHITE SIDED DOLPHINS
Sat Dec 17 2016
15:11 • PWS Dolphins between Maple Bay and Crescent Bay on Texada Island, Georgia Strait. Large group. ▫ Second Hand
Micheline Macauley, Texada Island, BC
Tue Dec 13 2016
12:31 • est. 25 PWS Dolphins heading North just off Powell River Viewpoint, Malaspina Strait.
Sherri Wretham, Powell River, BC
12:30 • PWS Dolphins heading South between Powell River Viewpoint and Texada Island, Malaspina Strait.
Michelle Pennell, Powell River, BC
SIGHTING MEDIA
Pacific White Sided Dolphins
Pacific White Sided Dolphins out towards Texada Island
Tue, 13 Dec 2016 – 5 items
Michelle Pennell, Powell River, BC
SIGHTING MEDIA
Pacific White Sided Dolphins
Pacific White Sided Dolphins out towards Texada Island
Tue, 13 Dec 2016 – 5 items
Michelle Pennell, Powell River, BC
Sun Dec 11 2016
08:30 • 30-40 PWS Dolphins circling prey and breaching, heading West in bay just West of Schooner Cove near Nanoose Bay, Georgia Strait. Likely fishing on the rising tide.
Jim Richard,
SIGHTING MEDIA
Pacific White Sided Dolphins
A large group of Pacific White Sided Dolphins close to Schooner Cove in Nanoose Bay
Sun, 11 Dec 2016 – 1 items
Jim Richard,
SIGHTING MEDIA
Pacific White Sided Dolphins
A large group of Pacific White Sided Dolphins close to Schooner Cove in Nanoose Bay
Sun, 11 Dec 2016 – 1 items
Jim Richard,
Society News & Events
Real Time Monitoring Station Update:
The weather, co-ordinating equipment and volunteers, and now the holiday season has caused a variety of delays in the installation of our first live system. Although it’s not up and running yet, it is still going ahead and being worked on, albeit a bit slower than anticipated. Thanks to some great volunteers, the specialized camera mast has been fitted, but not secured yet, our electrical components have had a few modifications that were not anticipated, and the work continues. The hydrophone, underwater listening device, will be installed as soon after the camera as possible with co-ordination of the divers. We can hardly wait and will keep you posted.
AGM:
Our Annual General Meeting is being scheduled for mid-January and we will send out the email invitations to our Society Members shortly.
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
The Province, BC
A persepective look at a period in the 1960s when fishers and communities on the Sunshine Coast were invoved in the capture and sale of Transient and Resident Orca to Ocean Theme Parks.
Fascinating Interviews with those involved and a look back at a sad period which ultimately lead to a new respect and appreciation for the complex, much studied and still little understood world of the Orca of the Salish Sea.
Hakai Magazine
Beginning in the fall of 2013, "the Blob" has sat off the Pacific coast of North America. This massive swathe of abnormally warm water raised the average temperature of the sea by 2.5 °C, and is thought to have thrown the marine ecosystem for a massive loop. Throughout its run, scientists speculated that the Blob was responsible for a whole host of damages, from mass bleaching of Hawai“ian coral and irregular fish migration, to sea lion beachings, and warmer seasons.
Now, researchers following up on the Blob have confirmed the proposed connection between it and another abnormal event: a massive 2015 algae bloom that hit the eastern Pacific with the largest outbreak of toxic domoic acid-producing algae ever recorded …
The Atlantic Magazine
New research is shedding light on the evolution of most peculiar and aberrant of mammals, the Whales.
…they’re mammals, so they have to face all of the challenges that a normal mammal does. They’re adapted to living on land: they’re [warm-blooded], they have fur, they breathe air, they give birth to live young and they have to suckle those live young. And then you try and do all of that in the sea, and of course, almost everything is stacked against you. Like, the milk is floating away, heat is draining from your body, your fur isn’t really that useful, there’s no air to breathe-like, everything is against you. And yet, within a relatively short period of time they’ve managed to tackle all of that, and they managed to achieve feats like diving down several kilometers and staying down for… an hour at a time, and doing some of the weirdest, biggest feeding events in all of the animal kingdom.
Gizmodo
Marine biologists working off the coast of Australia have observed orca whales hunting and killing rare beaked whales-a behavior never before seen in the predatory species.
Scientists have seen orcas hunt an assortment of prey, including fish, seals, dolphins, and even the calves of large whales. But beaked whales? That’s a completely new hunting behavior, one that appears to be unique to orcas living near Bremer Bay in southwest Australia.
For the past two years, a research team led by …
Monterey Whale Whatch goWhales.com
Offshore Killer Whales today! We encountered these infrequently sighted Killer Whales on the 9am trip aboard the SeaWolf II. This ecotype of Killer Whales often travels in large groups and were seen about this time last December. We saw about 25 individuals and we have footage of them feeding on a Sevengill Shark! These whales are typically smaller in size than the Bigg’s or transient Killer Whale type and they had several very young calves with them….
There is a tendency for nutrients in the form of biological material to slowly sink away from the surface into deep ocean environments. This downward migration of debris is referred to as a biological pump, and the debris itself is called marine snow. Whales help to even the balance by a simple mechanism called a whale pump. They feed at varying depths, but they seem to defecate almost exclusively at the surface….
Ocean Alliance has been developing a technique to collect DNA, hormones, and other important biological markers from whale "snot"-the emissions from a whale’s blowhole. To accomplish this task, Kerr has been flying a drone* that he dubbed "SnotBot" across the ocean and over the backs of dozens of whales in three expeditions around the world.
Collecting the whale snot is no easy task. "The snot comes out in a big V," Kerr says. "At the bottom of the V, the snot is condensed, but it’s a very small window. At the top, it’s very wide but the snot is dispersed." The goal, he says, is to fly about three meters above a whale, allowing the snot to be collected in a simple petri dish affixed to the drone.
SnotBot launched in July 2015 with a Kickstarter campaign, and Kerr has kept the project’s crowdsourcing spirit strong. He asked the visiting students if they could come up with a solution to help fly SnotBot at a predictable altitude….
