Transient Killer Whales / Orca April 30

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 it’s white areas. The adults showed the calf how to kill a sea lion as well as a harbour seal. I was surprised that the whales, after killing the sea lion, only ate part of it then abandoned the carcass to drift away.

The whales were quite spread out in Malaspina Strait, but I managed to locate them around Grief Point and stayed with them till they left between Harwood Island and Rebecca Rocks towards Vancouver Island. With the hydrophone down, I managed to get some very good recordings when they grouped up. Fortunately the ferries and other small boats had cleared the area since their motors make a fair bit of noise that can drown out the whale sounds.

I have been very busy over the past few weeks and hope to get some of these recent photos up soon now. I have added some updates to my main site Whales and Dolphins of BC.com

The Cove is the Academy Award winning documentary about the dolphin slaughter in Japan. The importance of spreading the word about this horrible slaughter is a cause I truly believe in. These are intelligent animals as are the whales that are hunted. This documentary show just how clandestine these hunts are and should be stopped. I’m providing a link for anyone interested in purchasing this movie: