Latest Sightings

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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Oct 20 – 150 to 200 PLUS another 300 Pacific White Sided Dolphins. 12:45 just South of Kanish Bay in Discovery Pass above Campbell River they were spread out to mid-strait. Just after 1pm sounds like the same group were headed North by Mills Bay. A short while later, there were an additional approximately 300…
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Oct. 3 – 30 to 50 Killer Whales / Orca WOW These were Resident (fish eating) Orca seen from 1pm till 5:45pm – first seen by Mitlenatch Island spread out towards Cape Mudge, Quadra Island and continued through Seymour Narrows up Discovery Channel to Deep Water Bay above Campbell River. They included A12s, A30s, A36s,…
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Sept 20 – 2 Humpback whales around 6pm from Atrevida Reef to the hulks off the Powell River Mill slowly moving southeast. Sept 20 – 8 Killer whales / Orca same Transients (meat eaters) as had been around for a while. around 11am till 2pm southward movement from Mitlenatch Isl to Sentry Shoal but a…
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Sept. 11 – 2 Harbour porpoises at 4:30 pm by Smelt Bay, Cortez Island foraging. Sept 11 – 12 Orca / Killer whales – possibly same Transients – 10am to 12pm spotted just outside Whaletown, Cortez Island and along Marina Island to Cortez Reef. They grouped up from different areas then headed N to Breton…
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The listing of whale sightings, dates and species will be posted to this blog starting the next few days and will continue every few days. The sightings list will start from mid-September whale sightings and I hope that you will join in by posting any sightings or comments you might have. Apart from being away,…
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Derk Schaupmeyer 1945 – 2010 Losing a long time dear and close friend is never easy. Saying our final goodbyes at "the center of the universe" as Derk called Stubbs Island, with family and a few friends was special and peaceful. My boat, SaltWash was out of commission, so our trip from Telegraph Cove took…
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For those lucky enough to have been in the Vancouver, BC – Lower Mainland – area the past few weeks the sighting whales and dolphins was a huge surprise. The first report I heard of in the Lower Mainland area, was of Pacific White Sided Dolphins. Although the report came to me quite a bit…
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I’ve just signed an urgent petition at Avaaz.org to protect whales. Read more below, or click this link to join me in signing: http://www.avaaz.org/en/whales_under_threat/98.php?CLICKTF Dear friends, The International Whaling Commission has just unveiled a proposal to legalize commercial whale hunting for the first time in 24 years. Countries are now deciding their first responses —…
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Around 16 Transient Orca / Killer whales were in the Powell River area Friday April 30th. They included T14 an older male born around 1969 and T63 another large male that has damage to it’s dorsal fin. There was also a relatively new born calf in the mix. It still had a pinkish colour to…
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Transient Orca  were spotted from Lund in the morning of April 11th coming through Baker Pass heading towards Savary Island. It took them a while, but a couple of hours later I managed to pick them up by Harwood Island out in front of Powell River on the Sunshine Coast. It was great to be…
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