Southern Resident Orca Visit

There was great anticipation to see the Southern Resident Orca from L-Pod coming down our way. Yes, I said down! They circumnavigated Vancouver Island and decided to treat us to a showing in the inside waters on their way "home". Thanks to our expanding network, we knew they were on the way (see previous report). They did not disappoint. See the photos below. These whales do not come this way very often. See January 11 & 12, 2012 reports for last time we had Southern Resident Orca from J-Pod come up the Strait and December, 2010 prior to that. With all this excitement, the Humpback Whales, Pacific White Sided Dolphins and Porpoises truly received minor billings and sightings reports. Even the Transient Orca we’ve become used to seeing in our neighbourhood were ‘somewhere’ out there.

I sent a heads up to Howard Garrett of Orca Network on Whidbey Island, Washington State:

Just got word they’re (L-Pod) in front of Chemainus right now 10:35 am

Reply:

Great, I just (11 am) called the Center and Dave says the word is they’re porpoising south past Turn Point, Haro Strait, right now. Whee!

Hi Susan, Sorry for the late report, but it has been a long day. And what a day it has been as it happened to be World Oceans Day and the one day of the year that we get to see the L Pod Southern Resident Orca’s come thru Campbell river on their way back to the Salish Sea!

I picked up the report Yesterday evening as did you from Jared Towers who left the L’s easting in JS @ Naka Creek @ 1900hrs. After some quick calculations of the tides i estimated them to be at Seymour Narrows either for slack tide Which was 0830ish or just before. As we were getting ready to head out in the rain the first report came in of Separation head @ 0745….right on time! We picked them up coming down the Maude Island shoreline Just before the light @ 0820……haha right on time! We followed alongside as the pod went through Discovery Passage for 3 hrs, escorting them thru the pass. It was a very busy day today when they came through and i included a breach right off the bow of the Seaspan Royal to give you an idea….as he trucked right over the whole pod doing 14-16 knots…..good thing these southerns are used to lots of large commercial traffic around them in their home waters. 3-4 times they would all pause and the fireworks would begin!! Multiple Breaches, spyhops, upside down taillobs, upside down swimming, pectoral slaps….you name it, we saw it all today!! ( as the pics show )

We left them at approx 1200 hrsand they were between the Red Can off of Cape Mudge and the Vancouver Island shoreline. I just love this Pod of KW’s.

12:20 pm I did manage to get out on the skiff to see L-Pod – some K’s too, I believe, but haven’t had time to confirm from photos. Garry, Aboriginal Journeys and Jen, Campbell River Whale Watching helped me to locate the whales since they were already on scene. They were incredibly spread out from just above the Little River ferry terminal by Comox to Texadaand could see breaching down by Denman and Hornby Islands!Also thought there was some splashing almost by Harwood Island. A huge spread over 20+ miles! It was like glass and sunny out there so they were very easy to spot. They would slow down for very short periods of time then pick up the pace again doing about 6 – 7 knots. Guess they got the scent of their home territory! Great vocals though, even with the boat noises. The last few passed the North tip of Texada Island about 5 pm. Curious as to what time they made it “home”. (reported: on June 9^th!)
Susan MacKay, Whales and Dolphins BC

Hey Everyone, For you Powell Riverites there have been lots of Orca in the area, I have seen them the past 3 days in a row and was lucky enough to go out on the water on 2 of those days. If you are near the water during your travels (not just in Powell River – SM) stop and take a good look for their splashes or blows. For the Non Powell Riverites on this list it’s OK if you visit occasionally. The June 6 images (some posted in previous reports – SM) are of a small pod of Transient(meat eating) Orca that had made a kill, possibly a seal while we were out watching. The June 8 images(today) were a large pod( 35 Orca) of Southern residents usually living near the San Juan islands and Juan de Fuca Strait. The Southern residents were spread in a wide loose group from Comox to Texada Island and heading south quickly. My Whale Watching Friend Susan MacKay put down the hydrophone and we listened to these very vocal animals even though seeing them was a challenge at times. Suffice to say that I’m sunburned, tired and happy! Cheers,

11:52 Orca reported between two boats talking over the VHF radio. I could not raise them to find out their exact location, but later communications indicated that these Orca were Southbound close to the bottom of Texada Island. It’s possible that these were just a few stragglers from the large Southern Resident group, or perhaps they were the Transient Orca from the other day. All that’s known is that they were Southbound and Orca somewhere near the bottom of Malaspina Strait.

1 pm Orca, probably Transients, by Hill Island close to Evans Bay headed towards Viner Point, bottom of Read Island. – no-one found them after the original report so there is no confirmation.

7:45 am 2 Humpback Whales off Shelter Point, just south of Campbell River, doing circles. No Direction. Report from a sports fisherman.

12:30 pm 2 Humpback Whales by Steep Island, Discovery Passage/Seymour Narrows. One was ‘KC’ for sure and only a guess to assume the other was ‘Arial’, but no fluke.

12 pm One Humpback Whale is right outside of Discovery Harbour, Campbell River heading North-West.

11:50 am 2 groups of about 30 Pacific White Sided Dolphins were foraging just off the Grief Point Park, Powell River tight into shore. They’re heading South.

6 pm One lone Harbour Porpoise was foraging just off Texada Island heading North. Spotted on the way back to Powell River from being with the Southern Resident Orca.