Lots of Cetacean activity – Orca, Humpback, Dolphins and Porpoise

Plenty of activity with Orca, Humpback, Dolphins and Porpoise appearing, disappearing, and reappearing along the Sunshine Coast and Georgia Strait. A reminder to all to keep an eye open and please report your sightings. We’d rather hear about it twenty times than not at all. The Humpback sighting is assumed Humpback rather than Grey based on description only. Does anyone have a photo to confirm, please? We may even be able to identify the individual from a photo. Also, some more information on branded Sea Lions below.

Have you seen a whale, dolphin or porpoise?

Call 1-877-323-9776or Emailyour report.

Every sighting report is valuable!

11 am 4 Orca Northbound at Brown’s Bay, above Campbell River. All small fins.

1:45 pm Orca, saw one for sure, right out in front of Westview.

1:45 pm The call from Sherri (above) came in just as I picked up binoculars to scan the water after seeing something out of the corner of my eye. There were 4 Orca – they looked like the same 4 as last night’s (I have not had enough time to review the photo’s). A few breaches and a brief glimpse of the sea lion they were on, they continued towards Grief Point.

Transient Orca. Thanks for the heads up about the pod out front today. I drove down to Grief Point as they picked up the pace since we spoke and got a few shots from the shore. At 2:30 pm. The small one was splashing around quite a bit, porpoising, tail lobbing with the occasional breach thrown in because it felt like it. Always a treat to see these beautiful animals.

8 am 4 Orca including one calf Northbound in front of Powell River fuel dock.

You’ve probably already been flooded with sightings but… (photo) Taken from my deck around 08:25 this morning at least two individuals heading north between Westview and Harwood. Wish I’d grabbed my camera sooner!

5:10 pm 2 Orca including one large male and a small calf off Whalen Road (Myrtle Point area) heading NW towards Myrtle Rocks.

5:45 pm Headed out to see about the above noted whales and found them at 6:20 pm just off Grief Point. They were travelling at an easy steady pace Northbound and continued past the Powell River mill angling towards Savary Island. Left them around 7:20 pm mid-channel.

2 pm 5-6 Orca right now off North side of Savary, mid-Island, working their way slowly towards Mace Point. Orcas at Savary…..Make it 8 at least……….

There were a couple of large fins and couple of really small ones with a total of close to 12 Orca! They headed towards Mace Point till a prawn boat ran right into the middle of the group. They turned towards Hernando and I lost sight of them.

5:30 – 6 pm There were around 11 Orca including one very large male Southbound past Albion (Black) Point.

Sitting on the beach at Grief Pt. at sunset and a whale (grey?) surged by very close to shore. I think we were within 30 ft. of it! Saw a small dorsal fin when we first heard it, but after that he stayed just under the surface. How amazing! A student staying with us also saw it from the seawalk. Apparently, lots of people saw it. Our student also thought he saw a small dorsal fin. I really only got a flash of it. We were sitting on a log looking out at the water and we heard it first. I knew from the sound it was a whale, not a big blow but a powerful noise. We turned in time to see what I took to be a shallow hump of the back with a small dorsal fin. He was very close to shore. He moved powerfully past us but didn’t completely break the surface again. From the glimpse I caught of him, my impression was of a smooth grey colour, but as I say, it was just a flash and I didn’t get another chance to take note.

Madeleine Field, Powell River

7:30 pm Noticed a huge blow tight to the breakwater at Westview’s South Harbour. Possibly a Grey Whale? It headed South then angled towards the Texada side.

5:50 pm 25 to 30 PWS Dolphins are leaping and cavorting back and forth just of Grief Point, Powell River

6 am 15 to 20 PWS Dolphins were headed South past Albion (Black) Point, South of Powell River. They weren’t in a hurry.

Two porpoises were sighted heading south just off Myrtle Rocks in the Malaspina Strait at 8:15 this morning.

Some friends and I went to lighthouse park today in West Vancouver. We were hanging out on the rocks looking out at the water and I noticed something in the water to the left of us. At first I thought it was a seal but then we got a better look and it was a group of porpoises! There were about three or four. Very dark grey almost black. They seemed pretty small and we saw their fins pop up a few times. About 75 feet off shore. We were so surprised they were pretty close. This was today the 22nd at about 6-630 pm. Then we saw them again but they were further to the left about 150 feet away. So amazing!

The fins were triangle, and the color seemed very dark charcoal (on first glance I thought it was a seal until we saw their fins and more of them). I’m almost positive they were Harbor Porpoises based on the pics I checked out, there was no white like the Dall’s porpoise… Was very magical! So surprised to see them so close to the city.

4:20 pm 9-10 Dall’s Porpoise in Lewis Channel off Teakerne Arm, Desolation Sound, foraging at the entrance.

Questions arose after my request for sightings reports and the photo of a branded Steller Sealion number 998R. Branding of sea lions for long term research and monitoring first started in Russia in 1989. Researchers found that the tags they used at the time would fall off and were difficult to read. Today, Stellers, California and many other sea lions and seals are being both branded and/or tagged for the purposes of tracking.

The majority of branding to date has taken place in Oregon, California and Alaska. Each location uses specific letter and number combinations indicating exactly where they were first branded or tagged, frequently as pups. With the information available, the location they were first branded and sometimes the age, sex and birthplace can be determined. 998R was branded at Rogue Reef, Oregon and the photo was taken at Mitlenatch Island, Northern Georgia Strait. Since these animals have already been branded and/or tagged, it’s useful and interesting to note where they are from and their survival rate after branding. There are some reports that indicate that some branding was done while the sea lions were under anaesthetic, but not all. Some brands appear much deeper than others.

The most recent branding took place March 25, 2013 in Oregon, at the Port of Astoria, where they branded 30 sea lions by trapping adults and pups in a trap. Both Oregon and California have, over many years, branded "nuisance" sea lions that were to be destroyed if they returned to certain areas where they are considered trouble makers. It’s unknown if this recent sea lion branding in Oregon is their standard method of branding, but if it is, it strikes me and many of you as cruel. Here’s a link to this recent branding uproar: http://www.seashepherd.org/news-and-media/2013/03/25/more-than-30-sea-lions-captured-and-branded-at-port-of-astoria-by-oregon-dept-of-fish-and-wildlife-1492Although this is only one side of the story, a picture says 1000 words.

Have you seen a whale, dolphin or porpoise? Call 1-877-323-9776 or Emailyour report. Every sighting report is valuable!