A timely reminder as Summer boating season kicks in of the need to be cautious and slow down around any type of marine life. We are great advocates of courteous behaviour on the water and off. Remember NEWS when you are in the vicinity of whales: N=Neutral E=Enjoy W=Wait S=Slow. Slow is the operative word.…
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Yet another large Fin Whale has been struck by a cruise ship and carried into Burrard Inlet. This is the third in just the past few years and it’s not understood why these, second largest of the whales, seem to be struck in this manner. Perhaps others are as well, but since they tend to…
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Grey Whales are not a common sight in Georgia Strait and even rarer near the mainland side of the Strait, but we can confirm the brief sighting. This means that they are actually returning through the inside waters as well as the West Coast of Vancouver Island. There have been a number of Transient Bigg’s…
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Transient Bigg’s Orca everywhere! And so many photos. We have reports of Killer Whales, Pacific White Sided Dolphins, Dall’s Porpoise as well as Harbour Porpoise, and even a Grey Whale report from Tofino, but still no Humpback Whales. Is it due to the seismic activity? It’s been a question for years that has yet to…
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Transient Bigg’s Killer Whales put on quite a show right in front of Campbell River! Lots of photos below. At the time of working on this report there is another show of leaping Transient Bigg’s Orca going on just between Lund and Savary Island. Howe Sound was not to be outdone and also had an…
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It’s wonderful to have Humpback Whales back in the upper Georgia Strait area. We are expecting more reports, as they should be coming back and travelling to their summer feeding grounds. A number of them have been using the inside waters rather than the West Coast of Vancouver Island over the past number of years.…
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Orca News! Another calf spotted for the Southern Resident Killer Whales J-Pod! The population was in desperate need of a boost and we welcome J-052! This is incredibly good news for their population. Farther up the coast, we have Transient Bigg’s Orca making appearances with Pacific White Sided Dolphins near by, plus a few other…
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This is a Special Update with a short Sightings Report Update below. There has been so much happening! Society Workings Updates: Our Web Site – We have made a huge update to our web site. We are now completely ‘mobile friendly’! Google informed us that we were not mobile friendly and we had to make…
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Orca have been popping up her and there as have a few of the smaller species. There is so much going on behind the scenes we are working on here at Whales and Dolphins BC that we need to do a much more complete update on its own to keep you informed. We have been…
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Orca have been making short appearances in the Powell River – Campbell River and Comox areas. We only know for certain that some of them were actually Transient Bigg’s (meat eating) Killer Whales. We have heard that our usual Northern Resident pod known as the A42’s – the ones that were in the viral video…
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Reports of Orca that seem to appear in numbers then disappear. With the calm waters, you’d think it would be difficult to lose track of them, but it happens. In the meantime, Pacific White Sided Dolphins have been having some good feeding runs in the Georgia Strait while putting on a show for some lucky…
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A Very Happy Valentine’s Day to all! Another great bit of news for the Endangered Southern Resident Killer Whale population. There’s another birth reported in J-Pod, making it the second in 2015! J50, born in December, 2014 is doing well, and this one, born in February, 2015 who’s mother is presumed to be J19, has…
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Killer Whales are all over the place! The viral video of the Northern Resident (fish eating) Killer Whales, the A42’s rubbing on a beach were easily identified by Susan MacKay as soon as the higher resolution clip was posted last Wednesday. See the clips below. It’s some of the best rubbing of Orca on a…
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The Northern Resident (fish eating) Killer Whales known as the A42’s may have headed down towards Sechelt as they we last seen in Malaspina Strait. The Orca noted under the Unidentified Killer Whales heading may very well be Transient Bigg’s, but it’s difficult to be sure as we do not have photos or known specific…
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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…
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Good News for the Southern Resident Orca population and a great way to end 2014 and start 2015. A new calf known as J50 was first spotted December 30th. There is a bit of question as to who the mother is since the calf was seen beside 42 year old J16, Slick. Slick is most…
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All of us at Whales and Dolphins BC / Wild Ocean Whale Society (WOWs) would like to wish you and yours the very best for the Holidays. An extra huge thank you to all who report sightings and help support our efforts. We couldn’t do it without you! There have been few reports and even…
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The majority of activity since our last update has been surrounding J32 ‘Rhapsody’ the pregnant Southern Resident Orca and her calf found dead by Bates Beach, just above Comox on Dec. 4th. Unfortunately we are not sure if the Unidentified Killer Whales by Powell River were some of the Southern Resident population or Transient Bigg’s…
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Hot off the presses (and in our Links below): A dead Orca was slowly drifting Northward and has been pulled up on the Bates Beach area just north of the Comox ferry terminal. There may be a connection to the November 28th sighting report of some Orca actually inside the Comox bar, although unconfirmed. In…
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At least one Humpback Whale is in the Powell River to Lund and Desolation Sound area still. We had been hoping to receive further reports, but most have been vague second hand sightings with only one video clip of the whale being submitted, although at least one other clip and photos were to have come…
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Few reports have come in since our last report. This leaves huge gaps in knowing where the whales, dolphins and porpoise are. Or where they went to. It is a big ocean out there and we rely mostly on your land based reports. We track and monitor all year round and land based sightings reports…
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Southern Resident Killer Whales and Pacific White Sided Dolphins put on a show around the Powell River area. It’s nice to see them return. With all the rough weather we’ve been having, sightings have been few and far between. November 1st was incredibly calm and sunny making it a serious treat to see the ever…
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Where are the Whales and Dolphins? Possibly one of the shortest reports we’ve had in a very long time! It is a big ocean out there, and with some of the rough weather, it’s quite difficult to spot them, but keep your eyes open. We KNOW they are around and would love to hear about…
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Intermittent sightings of Transient Bigg’s Killer Whales and, although there are Humpback Whales transiting the area, they too have been spotted only intermittently. Pacific White Sided Dolphins are in larger groups and seem to be the most noticed, perhaps because of their numbers and wonderful leaping antics. Dall’s Porpoise are regulars around Bute Inlet and…
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Happy Canadian Thanksgiving to everyone! Our Cetacean sightings report is a bit smaller. There are fewer people on the water, but the whales are still out there. Our work and reports continue all year round. We realize it’s a big ocean which is why we need your reports please, and thank those who do report.…
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Transient Bigg’s Orca are around, but behaving quite stealthy then suddenly pop up in numbers. Humpback Whales are working their way down the coast. Pacific White Sided Dolphins are back into the inlets North of Powell River and Campbell River. We have no reports of Dall’s or Harbour Porpoise this time, but have one report…
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Transient Bigg’s Killer Whales have gone into hiding it seems, while we are seeing some of the Humpback Whales continuing down the coast. Humpback known as ‘Yogi’ was even spotted in the San Juan Islands. Pacific White Sided Dolphins are spread out and making recurring appearances in wide spread areas once again. They have been…
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A few of the Northern Resident Orca, the A30’s and A42’s, have been spending their time travelling from Robson Bight Ecological Reserve out into Queen Charlotte Strait and back again. Transient Bigg’s Killer Whales have been on the hunt, it seems everywhere. They are good at surprise attacks causing Pacific White Sided Dolphins to scatter…
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So much Cetacean activity everywhere along the inside coast from Sechelt to Blackfish Sound and even a couple of reports from the West coast of Vancouver Island to attempt to summarize. We’ll let the report speak for itself. Susan MacKay & Lynne Cracknell, Whales and Dolphins BC Have you seen a whale, dolphin or porpoise?…
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Northern Resident Orca took a short foray far out to the West but have returned to the inside waters of Johnstone Strait heading down. Transient Bigg’s Killer Whales have popped up, as they do, in numbers again and are working their way up Johnstone Strait. Should be interesting to see if they pass each other…
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