Humpback Whales have been breaching all over the place. The photos in this issue show some of them. Having this many in the upper Georgia Strait is truly unprecidented. A few taking a snooze at the surface put themselves in danger with all the speeding unattentive boats around. We can’t stress the need for boaters…
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The Northern Resident Killer Whales of the family pod known as the A30s stayed around the top of Johnstone Strait for a few days. Transient Bigg’s Orca, our affectionately called “resident” Transients, known at the T002Cs were seen around the Comox area and presumably were the same family pod that popped up only to disappear…
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Humpback Whales are everywhere! Amazing numbers of these large cetaceans are foraging in the waterways around Quadra, Cortez and Mitlenatch Islands. The food is more plentiful there and in inlets farther above Desolation Sound. Malaspina Strait which runs between Texada and the Mainland past Powell River has seen few cetaceans. Fishing by draggers may have…
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Our first Live streaming Real Time Monitoring Station is up and running! See Society News below for details. Humpback Whales have been around in large numbers between Campbell River and Lund with a few up Lewis Channel. Estimated count in one day is between 15 to 18 individuals. WOW! Talk about a comeback. Some of…
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Transient Bigg’s Orca including T063, well known as Chainsaw, T065s and T002Cs all got together briefly between Quadra and Cortez Islands. T065s including T063 are more frequent visitors to the Oregon coast than our inside waters. T002Cs are regulars to our upper Georgia Strait area and frequently stay for long periods of time. The family…
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A few Transient Bigg’s Orca have been spotted in the upper Georgia Strait through Discovery Passage, but have once again been extremely elusive to those keeping eyes out for them. They seem to be here then nowhere to be seen. Humpback Whales, on the other hand, have been foraging around the Cape Mudge to Mitlenatch…
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Humpback Whales are back and forth around Cape Mudge and a few decent size groups of Harbour Porpoise are still staying together in the upper Georgia Strait. The Orca we usually see in the upper strait have been very ellusive with minimal sightings this past week and everyone wondering where they may have gone to.…
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Humpback Whales continue to work their way into the inside waters between Vancouver Island and the Mainland. Of course, KC and his sister Arial have met up again this year putting on some fancy shows for many whale watching enthusiasts. Fully expect to see, or at least hear about their Mom, Houdini soon. She earned…
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Many Transient Bigg’s Orca have been mostly staying in the upper reaches of Georgia Strait and into various channels and inlets with some being spotted transitting the lower strait. The lone male Bigg’s made his way into Sechelt Inlet then back up the strait. Most Pacific White Sided Dolphins appear to be staying clear with…
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Our Sightings Reports have now moved to weekly publishing with the onset of better weather. Transient Bigg’s Orca have been teaching their young various hunting practices. Their primary source of food is meat such as seals, sealions, and other small Cetaceans. As they pass through, they usually take and feed on these animals, but they…
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Humpback Whales are finally reappearing in the our inside waters as they work to feed on some of the herring that’s been spotted in various areas including one staying in Howe Sound. Our regular Humpback visitor known as ‘KC’ which is short for Kelp Creature is back to cruising close around Campbell River and Brown’s…
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Harbour porpoises have appeared in greater numbers in upper Georgia Strait and in Howe Sound. Normally, Harbour porpoises travel in groups of 2 to 6 but over the past two weeks, some have appeared in groups larger than 10 animals which makes it easier to spot them. On April 21, eight pods of Harbour porpoises…
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Killer Whales are popping up appear in a variety of places including Howe Sound. They are mostly Transient Bigg’s, the meat eaters following other prey, such as Pacific White Sided Dolphins and Porpoise. A few reports from the lower parts of Georgia Strait are possibly Southern Resident Orca, but without confirmation, we must categorize them…
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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…
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Fleeting glimpses through inclement weather of cetacean species provides us with a short sightings report this issue. The report still manages to cover Orca, Humpback Whales, Pacific White Sided Dolphins and a large group of Harbour Porpoise. The whales, dolphins and porpoise are out there, but have not been easy to spot. We are overdue…
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Minke Whales are a species throughout our coastal waters, but not often seen as they transit inside waters. Their streamlined body allows them to travel great distances after a couple of breaths making them harder to spot, so it’s great to have reports on them. Southern Resident Orca seem to be staying below Nanaimo in…
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Orca sightings are back in the forefront and they seem to be spotted most often when there have been Pacific White Sided Dolphins in the area. These sightings have not included any major chasing or hunting of the Dolphins this time though, but the Dolphins are not seen travelling with the Orca, so odds are…
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Pacific White Sided Dolphins are the majority of this report as they travel in larger groups leaping and splashing. Other Whales have been slipping by as they do long dives and people miss seeing them or only get a brief glimpse. They are still around throughout our waters though, and sometimes it’s just luck in…
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After the flurry of activity in our last report, the Pacific White Sided Dolphins seem to have regrouped into slightily smaller groups and have been reported foraging and moving quickly, with no confirmed evidence of them being chased by Bigg`s Killer Whales. But some of the Killer Whales, although being seen in a few areas,…
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The Transient Bigg’s (meat eating) Killer Whales certainly made a huge splash by sneaking up on around 600 Pacific White Sided Dolphins who were merrily feeding just off Texada Island. Once the Dolphins realized they were about to become lunch, they all exploded out of the water and scattered in every direction to get away.…
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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…
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There are many Humpback Whales holding much farther North than expected this time of year. We feel that many will stay throughout the Winter months, which is both a blessing and a curiousity. As someone once told me, “Why go South if you can hang out with friends and continue to feed”. With the likelihood…
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Humpback Whales are still putting on nice breaching and lunge feeding shows in the inside waters of Georgia Strait, up Desolation Sound and inner channels by Knight Inlet. Southern Resident Orca and some other Killer Whales have been briefly popping up again. A nice size pod of Pacific White Sided Dolphins made an appearance by…
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Many Humpback whales have been sighted around Powell River. Some of them were observed to be travelling in pairs while others were travelling in a group of four. Various behaviours were displayed by the Humpback whales, including breaching, tail slapping, pectoral slapping, and feeding by bubble nets. A few sightings of Humpback whales have also…
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Reports of Cetacea where the reporter is unsure of the species happens more often than you might think. Quite often we can determine the species from more information or a photo, but not always. Since Pilot Whales are not common to our inside coastal waters, we do a bit of extra digging. Although we have…
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Humpback Whales are still high on the sightings list while we are getting a few more sightings of Transient Bigg’s Orca. Some active Pacific White Sided Dolphins and Dall’s Porpoise are around in not overly large groups, but the little Harbour Porpoise is still so easy to miss. With the nasty weather bearing down on…
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The sheer number of Humpback Whales spread out in the Upper Georgia Strait and surrounding waterways is amazing! Over many days we have had a count of approximately fifteen different Humpback Whales. The count includes: KC, Zed, Nick, Stripe, Maude and her new calf, Whale believed to be Houdini with her new calf, Chinook, Niagra,…
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Transient Bigg’s have been hunting all throughout the inner waters from Haro Strait to Johnstone Strait. Our usual T002C family pod continue to spend much of their time cruising the channels in the upper Georgia Strait. The Southern Resident Orca pods have been in and out of the inside waters by Victoria and Vancouver not…
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Cetaceans have been seen in abundance in many of the inland waterways. Although the season is changing, our water conditions are ideal for algae and fish to thrive, supporting the whales and dolphins at the top of the food chain. Our report includes a sighting last Wednesday of a pod of approximately 50 Dall’s porpoises…
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Last Friday, there was a rare occurence when a large pod of approximately 22 Transient Biggs Orca formed and was observed in Discovery Passage. Within the pod, there were T18s, T19B, and T60s. The Orca were seen off Cape Mudge in the morning, made their way Northward passing Campbell River, and moved into Johnstone Strait…
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