Transient Bigg’s Orca, Pacific White Sided Dolphins, Dall’s and Harbour Porpoise

Appearing / disappearing Transient Bigg’s Orca on the hunt. They have been doing such long dives that finding them after a dive can be difficult. They seem to pop up where neither people scanning the water, nor their prey, expect. They’ve been hunting Pacific White Sided Dolphins, seals, sea lions and Harbour Porpoise. No word if they’ve noticed the Dall’s Porpoise around yet, but a great spotting report with photos below.

Something noteworthy is that the Bigg’s Killer Whales appear to have a revised method for attacking their prey lately. The past number of sightings have had the Transient’s doing long dives, then come up underneath their prey to grab and take them underwater rather than flinging them up or a full frontal surface attack. It’s not just one family group hunting in this revised manner now….interesting.

April 19:

1:41 pm 6 or so Orca by Dent Rapids looking like they’re on the hunt.

3:30 pm (approx) Left Orca by Lawrence Point Bute Inlet heading into theinlet. T101 and T102 for sure. There were 10 or more whales in total.

April 18:

Around 11:30 am (rec’d 5:25 pm) Orca spotted at a distance from the Comox to Powell River ferry. No directions or numbers.

April 17:

2 pm 2 Orca Southbound tight to shore by Grief Point.

April 17:

1.:41 pm Two Orca Southbound, foot of Penticton Ave, (Powell River) moving slowly….looks like a female and a youngster……..

April 15:

8:15 am April 15th 3-4 orca passing Grief Point, heading slowly towards Westview, Powell River.

April 15:

8:20 am 6 – 7 Orca Northbound by Powell River Grief Point. There’s 2 larger dorsals.

9:15 am Went down to the viewpoint to take a better look. One male has quite a white saddle patch while the second big male’s looked almost a bit orange in colour. They stopped between viewpoint and Harwood Island – possibly on food?

April 15:

8:34 am My neighbour says there’s 3 whales 500 yards off shore heading North at the bottom of Oliver Street. Have a great day,

April 15:

8:25 am 4 – 5 Orca including 1 large dorsal Northbound by Penticton Ave. Powell River.

April 15:

10:19 am Transient Bigg’s Orca still milling in front of Powell River on a kill. They’re half way between the Westview ferry terminal and Harwood Isl. 5 Orca surfaced at once plus there’s two larger (male) dorsals together but a bit farther off from the rest. Looks like the T02C’s (T02C2 has scoliosis of the spine which has left her with a progressive and distinctive deformity of the spine).

April 15:

11:30 am Last time I saw the Orca, they were still in the same spot. Lost track after that.

April 15:

11:38 am Report of Orca killing a Sea Lion in Seymour Narrows an hour ago from a friend. No numbers.

April 15:

12:48 pm Orcas are just passing the mill (Campbell River) Southbound from a friend.

April 15:

1:05 pm The Orca are now in front of the Coast Marina Campbell River. They’re mid-channel and still Southbound.

April 15:

1:43 pm 4 – 6 Transient Bigg’s Orca at Shelter Point, south of Campbell River.

There’s also a group of Pacific White Sided Dolphins by Shelter Point – haven’t seen the Orca for a bit (10 min). Look like the same Orca I had yesterday.

Wow, they came up from underneath and took a Dolphin! Unbelievable! Wasn’t expecting that ambush.

2:48 pm Left the Orca 2 miles off Mitlenatch Island. They’re the T023’s.

April 15:

2:45 pm The 4 – 6 Orca are between Salmon Point and Mitlenatch Island. A bit SW of Mitlenatch.

Around 3:40 – 3:45 pm Had a brief glimpse of maybe 4 Orca close to Mitlenatch. Not sure who or what direction. They were on the South side of the island possibly foraging when we left.

April 15:

Around 3 pm I think the Orca split up. I only saw 1 or maybe 2 in heavy seas above Mitlenatch.

April 14:

1:30 pm (rec’d later) Had 2 groups of Orca up towards Toba Inlet one group was all small fins (females) 6 in that one.

April 13:

No time given in email: We also had a pod of whales pass us on April 13 as we were heading north at the Copelands (across from Lund and Bliss Landing). I am attaching a few pictures of those as well.

April 19:

11:14 am Around 20 or so Pacific White Sided Dolphins off Gowland Harbour, across from Campbell River between the spit and Copper Bluffs.

April 19:

1:30 pm 15 PWS Dolphins between Aran Rapids and Lawrence Point, Bute Inlet.

April 15:

1:40 pm 10 or so Pacific White Sided Dolphins off Shelter Point – the Transient Bigg’s Orca have done a long dive – around 10 minutes. We stopped well off the Dolphins and they cruised past our bow then stopped briefly. Suddenly they exploded out of the water when the the Orca ambushed and grabbed one. It looked almost like they let it go since they (the Orca) just continued on their way. No obvious evidence of a kill.

April 14:

No time given in email: Wasn’t sure if we have Dall’s Porpoise around here or not and I am wondering if that is what we saw yesterday, April 14. We were staying at Attwood Bay in Homfray Channel (Desolation Sound) when the porpoise came in. They stayed in the bay for several hours. Our estimate is that there were about 20 porpoise. I clearly saw a large white patch on the lower flanks and the dorsal fins were white tipped with a black base. Their "bottoms" appeared a bit chunky when they dove. I am attaching some pictures for you – sorry it is the best we could get but maybe you could confirm for us that it was Dall’s that we saw. (Definitely Dall’s and great photos too! – SM)

April 14:

9:29 am 2 Harbour Porpoise by Twin Islands

A very nice compilation of people helping animals…not only Cetaceans, but there are a couple of segments of course.

Friend and neighbour, Judy came over to video the Hummingbird evening feeding frenzy on my deck. It may start slow, but the Hummers arrived in numbers as they do every evening. I know many readers enjoy the information I’ve posted over the years on my Hummingbirds, so thought I’d post the link to this clip.