Through all the wind pushing up the seas, the heavy rains, and even the snow, of which there’s still a bit left on the ground, it has been dismal for whale and dolphin spotting. The only animals I’ve seen have been the numerous birds at the feeders. Yes, my Hummingbirds are still around and feeding…
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Although the weather has been up and down, sightings around Powell River have only been of some Sea Lions. Even they seem to be farther away. Work on the Powell River Harbour continues and it seems that the sounds, which carry farther underwater, might just be part of the cause for the lack of local…
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It has been very slow for sightings. Only splashes and a few dorsal fins of probably Pacific White Sided Dolphins have been spotted right through from Jan 31 to Feb 4 th. with the last sighting on Feb 4th around 1pm near Willingdon Beach area in Powell River. The only other bit of information of…
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Jan 30 – 6 to 10 Splashes that were not Sea Lions. Due to the sunshine glare, I could not tell for sure if they were Dalls Porpoises or Pacific White Sided Dolphins, but the most likely would be dolphins. Last sighted close to the Northwest sandbar off Harwood Island and heading towards the Powell…
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Jan 27 – The morning started with 5 Killer Whales reported off the Iron Mines close to Lund at 10:30 am. They were southbound, so I headed out on the skiff to find them. 16 to 20 Transient Killer Whales appeared by Atrevida Reef, on the mainland side across from Hernando Island. They were moving…
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Jan 25 – No sightings to report Jan 24 – 5 Killer Whales, or Orca, were reported just south of Myrtle Rocks, south of Powell River with breaches and splashing around noon. They appeared to slowly be continuing southward. There were numerous Sea Lions which all seemed to rush close in and onto shore, so…
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I had been wondering where the Pacific White Sided Dolphins got to. Normally, at least the past few years, they have been in and around the areas from Sechelt to Cortez Island in the winter months. Last year there were daily sightings of 80 to 100 at a time. I was extremely happy to spot…
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Last evening I received information about Killer Whale (Orca) sightings from the Comox to Powell River Ferry on Jan 11 th. There were a fair number of them, possibly 12, Orca on both sides of the ferry. They were spread out and just slowly milling about mid-strait between Comox and Rebecca Rocks out in front…
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Jan 10 to 12 – Been looking for those Orca, but I’m afraid there’s no reported sightings for this period. There are numerous sea lions around with a fair number of them California Sea Lions. The hummingbirds are happy that the snow is gone and it’s a bit warmer now. I was surprised to see…
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Good news this morning (Jan 8)! There are around 20 Pacific White Sided Dolphins out in front of Powell River. I last saw them at 9am heading towards Willingdon Beach on the North side of the ferry terminal. With limited time to watch for any animals and no other reports about sightings, things have been…
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Welcome to 2011 Bringing in the New Year with calm sunny days is a real bonus. Although cold outside, the sunshine bolsters spirits. By the way, for those interested, I still have 5 Hummingbirds feeding regularly at the feeder. Jan 2: I received information about 40 to 50 Pacific White Sided Dolphins headed towards Desolation…
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What a marvelous way to end 2010. The sun was out, the seas were calm and we had whales in front of Powell River! Over the past few days I had seen some blows and even spotted a couple of dark backs, but with whale sightings, timing is everything, and I could not confirm the…
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Dec 4, 2010 Orca from J Pod Wishing you and yours All the Best of the Holidays and the New Year ! Dec 19 to 23 – There have been no sightings forwarded or seen over the past few days. I must admit, scanning time has also been minimal due to the rush of the…
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Dec 18 – Lots of birds out just past Rebecca Rocks. Looked as if there were some splashes and even thought I saw a couple of low blows, but nothing confirmed, I’m afraid. It’s been a slow few days for any sightings. My scanning of the water has also been reduced and intermittent due to…
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Although I have been scanning the waters occasionally during the days, I’m afraid I have no whale, dolphin or porpoise sightings to report for these three days. There were also no reports submitted to me from anyone. Dec 10 There were hundreds of birds just out past Rebecca Rocks, between Harwood and Texada Islands. There…
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Although I had been checking out the window regularly, I missed them, but reports are in: Dec 5 – Approx. 20 – 30 Orca / Killer Whales were spotted by Black Point, just south of Powell River heading in a Northerly direction at around 12pm. Dec 6 – 13 Orca / Killer Whales were spotted…
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Dec 4 – Exciting day! Around 10:30am Orca were spotted around Black Point, just south of Powell River. By 12pm they were rounding Grief Point and in front of Powell River. By 2:30 they picked up the pace and headed West, out towards Vancouver Island. Campbell River people should keep their eyes open. The weather…
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It’s been a slow period as far as whale, dolphin or porpoise sightings go. Scanning the waters in front of Powell River in between work has produced only one real sighting – see below. The wind generated waves make it very difficult to spot these animals, and I have heard of no other reports of…
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With the snow, it’s been difficult to see the water and most people spent most of the time just trying to stay warm. It was bitter cold, yet there are three hummingbirds at the feeder! These little guys are Anna’s hummingbirds and there are a few of them that stay in the Powell River area…
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Nov 20 – Confirmed sighting of 2 humpback whales heading towards Lund from the bottom of Savary Island at around 4pm. No idea if these are different animals or not.At around 9pm 3 distinct blows were heard tight in to shore by Sevilla Island off of Lund. Humpbacks will find a safe place to rest,…
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Nov 14 right through to this morning of Nov 16 – BCX1258, the Humpback whale known as Crescent is still feeding in and around the area from Texada Island, Harwood Island to Sliammon First Nations and Powell River on the mainland. The Sliammon First Nations operate a fish hatchery and the creek would certainly attract…
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Nov 12 (the rest of the day from my prior post) did manage to produce one view of the Humpback whale known as Crescent BCX1258 Nov 13 and 14th (it’s early on the 14th) Crescent the Humpback whale is still cruising around the area from Texada, Harwood, and Powell River. Doing long dives, it’s a…
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Nov 12 – Although we’re not done with the day yet, the Humpback whale appeared again just out from shore in front of Powell River this morning. It was headed towards Willingdon beach doing long dives then coming up for three or four breaths and another long dive. Hopefully it’s getting some good feed.This whale…
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Nov 10 – Just as I finished posting yesterday’s lack of whale sightings at 9am, I looked up from the computer to see a Humpback whale surfacing just out from the Powell River shore. After logging off the computer and grabbing camera gear, I went to see if I could get some identification photos. The…
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It’s been a slow few days. I may have been wishful thinking Nov 7 when I saw what looked like 5 to 6 blows travelling in an Orca-like pattern. Grabbing binoculars I stayed scanning the area for a while, but never saw another blow, so I’d have to say it was a non-report. The bird…
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Nov 3 – 1 Humpback around 10am by Northeast Point off of Texada Island. It was facing Northward, but since the general direction gathered from the earlier reports puts it making it’s way slowly in a Southerly direction, it may not be coming back to this area. Anyone with photos of it’s hump and /…
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Nov 1 – With hopes of spotting the dolphins again, I scanned the waters when I could, but spotted nothing. I’m told by the Cetacean Sightings Network team that there had been no sightings reports from this area other than mine. I can’t watch the ocean all day and would love to hear of any…
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Well, the past few days have been very quiet in this area for any sightings. Although a few of us are keeping our eyes open for any activity, there seems to be a distinct lack of whales, dolphins, porpoises and even sea lion activity. I did hear some commercial chatter on the radio of “a…
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Oct 24 – 2 and possibly more Killer Whales / Orca at 5:45 pm between the top of Texada Island and Rebecca Rocks out from Powell River. The seas were up from the winds making anything difficult to spot. I thought I’d take a quick scan with the binoculars and was surprised to catch an…
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NOTE:Since it’s pretty quiet out there for whale watching boaters right now, reports are getting slimmer. If you are interested in joining this network of whale sighting reporters, please contact me at susan@whalesanddolphinsbc.com or by posting a comment below to help with sightings from land or the water. No sighting report is ignored, and all…
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