Humpback Whales, Transient Bigg’s Orca, Dolphins and Porpoise – Issue No. 2015-036
Slightly delayed report due to much going on behind the scenes. Hopefully the problem we had with sending our previous report to our email subscribers has been resolved. We apologize for any inconvenience.
There are many sightings of Humpback Whales. Some appear to be on the move a bit more now. Transient Bigg’s Killer Whales have been spotted pretty much everywhere, while the Resident pods, both Southern and Northern have been staying closer to their ‘usual’ territories of below the bottom of Georgia Strait and above the top of Johnstone Strait. With all the Pacific White Sided Dolphins around, we’re sorry to say we have no photo submissions of them to include in this report. It’s nice to have a few more reports of Porpoise.
Susan MacKay, Whales and Dolphins BC
REPORT LOCATIONS MAP 2015-036
Have you seen a whale, dolphin or porpoise?
We are the non-profit Wild Ocean Whale Society
Call 1-877-323-9776or Emailyour report.
TRANSIENT BIGG’S KILLER WHALES
Tue Sep 29 2015
20:45 • Bigg`s Orca heading North with the ebb tide passing the Campbell River in the moonlight Discovery Passage.
Geord Dunstan, Discovery Marine Safaris
14:16 • 7 Bigg`s Orca heading North around Grant Reefs off Savary Island, Georgia Strait. These were apparently 7 more Orca, but unknown how many there were in total. ▫ Second Hand
Radio, overheard or call out
12:20 • Bigg`s Orca heading South slowly between Cape Mudge Lighthouse and Campbell River, Discovery Passage.
John Lewis, Discovery Marine Safaris
11:20 • 4 Bigg`s Orca heading South in a line off the Cape Mudge Village and the Fishing Pier doing 1 knot Discovery Passage.
Ed Sharkey, Painter’s Lodge
10:05 • 4 Bigg`s Orca heading South slowly nearing Cape Mudge Village 300 meters off Quadra Island shore Discovery Passage.
Jerry, Eagle Eye Adventures
09:33 • 4 Bigg`s Orca by Whiskey Point, Discovery Passage. There’s 1 Sprouter (a juvenile male – SM) and 3 small fins, but not the T100s we had a couple of days ago.
Ed Sharkey, Painter’s Lodge
Jack Springer, Campbell River Whale Watching
Mon Sep 28 2015
John Lewis, Discovery Marine Safaris
08:40 • 5 Bigg`s Orca hunting, heading South slowly off Albion Point and Myrtle Rocks. One very large male in the group. Quite a distance out from shore. ▫ Observed from Shore
Liz Kennedy, Powell River, BC
Sun Sep 27 2015
15:21 • 4 Bigg`s Orca hunting, heading South-East 2 miles South of Mitlenatch Island, Georgia Strait. ?T100, T100F, T100C, T100E? Killed a Common Murre in a bait ball. T100C has port side satelite tag.
14:05 • 4 Bigg`s Orca heading South-East 4.1 nautical miles off Vancouver Island shoreline just South of Salmon Point, Georgia Strait. ?T100, new calf T100C, T100E? All looks OK so far. T100C with a scratched dorsal.
Name Withheld, by Request
13:43 • Bigg`s Orca 2 miles SE of Red Can Buoy off Cape Mudge, Georgia Strait. Could not discern any damage.
13:06 • Bigg`s Orca Inspection of Orca: nothing obvious with preliminary look. Now trying to have a better look.
12:53 • Bigg`s Orca One of the Orca was reported struck by a boat up by Chatham Point. We are just heading out to meet up with our other boat Tenacious 3. DFO should be on scene shortly.
John Lewis, Discovery Marine Safaris
10:00 • 4 Bigg`s Orca heading North-East by Bliss Landing towards Sarah Point towards Desolation Sound. There were 3 together along the shoreline travelling at around 5-6 knots and doing 6 minute dives. One other was trailing behind and out from the shoreline by about 1/4 mile. Adult has a slight bend in the dorsal to starbord. Left them at 10:25 am.
Jay Feaver, Powell River, CCG
Fri Sep 25 2015
18:45 • 2 Bigg`s Orca heading West by Cinque Islands, Discovery Passage. These are additional Orca, spotted at a distance.
18:35 • 5 Bigg`s Orca by Granite Point entering upper Discovery Passage. Unknown direction after that.
John Lewis, Discovery Marine Safaris
15:30 • 2 Bigg`s Orca heading North swam by Eagle Cove towards Blubber Bay, Malaspina Strait.
Micheline Macauley, Texada Island, BC
Karen Seashore, Heriot Bay
11:25 • Bigg`s Orca one group turned towards Evans Bay the other still by Penn Islands, Sutil Channel.
Radio, overheard or call out
Thu Sep 24 2015
17:15 • 6 Bigg`s Orca turned, heading North by the North Bluff along the Vancouver Island shore Discovery Passage. ?T077, plus?
Name Withheld, by Request
Ed Sharkey, Painter’s Lodge
Leif Nordman, Campbell River Whale Watching
Holly Roy, Powell River
Wed Sep 23 2015
Jos Krijnen, Eagle Eye Adventures
15:44 • 10 Bigg`s Orca heading slowly towards Bartlett Islet off Church House. ?T077A, T102, plus? Hugging the shoreline. ▫ On Scene
Susan MacKay, Whales and Dolphins B.C.
15:29 • 10 Bigg`s Orca just coming out of Raza Passage. They were very spread out then grouped together. Long dives. ▫ On Scene
Susan MacKay, Whales and Dolphins B.C.
Dale Eichar, Sechelt
13:54 • 12 Bigg`s Orca hunting, heading West just coming out of Frances Bay, Raza Passage. ?T077A, T102, plus? They had been in and out of Frances Bay and one male had played with it’s kill beside our tour boat. ▫ On Scene
Kurt Staples, Eagle Eye Adventures
Tue Sep 22 2015
18:49 • 4 Bigg`s Orca near the bottom of Penn Islands pointing towards Carrington Bay, Sutil Channel. Looks like there’s one male, one female and a couple of juveniles. ▫ On Scene
John Lewis, Discovery Marine Safaris
Jos Krijnen, Eagle Eye Adventures
Leif Nordman, Campbell River Whale Watching
17:44 • 3 Bigg`s Orca towards Plunger Passage, Sutil Channel. Spotted two or three blows towards Plunger Pass. Only saw blows once.
Susan MacKay, Whales and Dolphins B.C.
16:28 • 2 Bigg`s Orca still just below Church House, Calm Channel. Leaving these two orca same place but seem to have gone to sleep. Off to look for the others. ▫ Leaving the Scene
16:19 • 2 Bigg`s Orca playing, Two big males. They spent a fair bit of time just frolicking about, almost playing tag. ▫ On Scene
15:24 • Bigg`s Orca almost to Rendezvous Islands, Whale Channel. ?T46s? The males turned. Mom and calf were by log sort but haven’t seen the rest. So far can only confirm T46B1. ▫ On Scene
Susan MacKay, Whales and Dolphins B.C.
Leif Nordman, Campbell River Whale Watching
12:47 • 10 Bigg`s Orca zig zagging, between Rendezvous Islands and Raza Island in Calm Channel. There’s 3 big fins in the group. ▫ Leaving the Scene
12:40 • 7 Bigg`s Orca hunting, about half mile off North Rendezvous Island in Calm Channel. Found another group between 6-7 Orca on a kill. ▫ On Scene
Jos Krijnen, Eagle Eye Adventures
11:17 • Bigg`s Orca heading East on both the Raza Island and Redonda Island shoreline in Deer Passage.
Rhys, Campbell River Whale Watching
09:35 • 10 Bigg`s Orca heading towards Penn Islands, Sutil Channel. There’s 10 plus Orca including 4 males. ▫ Leaving the Scene
Jack Springer, Campbell River Whale Watching
Mon Sep 21 2015
16:35 • Bigg`s Orca heading West around the SE corner of Raza Island heading through and out of Deer Passage. ▫ Leaving the Scene
Leif Nordman, Campbell River Whale Watching
Jos Krijnen, Eagle Eye Adventures
Name Withheld, by Request
Rhys, Campbell River Whale Watching
10:46 • 8 Bigg`s Orca milling, still between Viner Point and Centre Islet, Sutil Channel. ▫ On Scene
Jerry, Eagle Eye Adventures
10:03 • 8 Bigg`s Orca by Viner Point heading towards Centre Islet. There’s 7 – 8 Orca, all small fins, so far. Rhys is on scene.
Jos Krijnen, Eagle Eye Adventures
09:14 • 5 Bigg`s Orca off Willow Point, Georgia Strait. They’re just back and forth in the tide rips. ▫ Observed from Shore
Elvis, Eagle Eye Adventures
Wed Sep 16 2015
07:45 • 2 Bigg`s Orca heading South by Powell River towards Grief Point, Malaspina Strait. ▫ From Ferry
Mike Filewich, Powell River
SOUTHERN RESIDENT KILLER WHALES
Wed Sep 23 2015
15:50 • SRKW Orca up towards Vancouver, Georgia Strait. ?J-Pod, K-Pod? We had J pod and K pod come up towards Vancouver last night and they haven’t showed up anywhere down here today. Really good coverage too. Wouldn’t surprise me if they’re on their way up the Strait.
Gary Sutton, Wild Whales
UNIDENTIFIED KILLER WHALES
Wed Sep 23 2015
Aaron Webber, Campbell River Whale Watching
Mon Sep 21 2015
08:54 • 6 Orca heading North-West just beyond Entrance Island. Spotted from shore on Gabriola Island, therefore difficult to come up with an accurate count. There may have been more. ▫ Observed from Shore
Elsa Bluethner, Gabriola Island
HUMPBACK WHALES
Tue Sep 29 2015
John Lewis, Discovery Marine Safaris
16:19 • 1 Humpback Whale heading North between Stuart Island and Johnstone Bluff headed into Bute Inlet.
Jerry, Eagle Eye Adventures
10:00 • 2 Humpback Whale off Mill Bay, Saanich Inlet. Two seen today seemed to travel across Saanich Inlet quite quickly, possibly from one feeding area to another. Three humpbacks have been in the Inlet for up to a month.
Martin Model, Mill Bay
Mon Sep 28 2015
Jos Krijnen, Eagle Eye Adventures
14:33 • 1 Humpback Whale off Albion Point, Myrtle Rocks area of Malaspina Strait. Took a dive so haven’t seen it in a bit.
Liz Kennedy, Powell River, BC
Josh McInnes, Victoria
John Lewis, Discovery Marine Safaris
11:56 • 1 Humpback Whale heading South along the Quadra Island shore at Yellow Island, Discovery Passage.
11:18 • 1 Humpback Whale heading South against the ebb current in Seymour Narrows, Discovery Passage.
Ed Sharkey, Painter’s Lodge
Sun Sep 27 2015
17:30 • 1 Humpback Whale between Albion Point and Myrtle Rocks area of Malaspina Strait. Surfaced a number of times fairly close to shore. ▫ Observed from Shore
Liz Kennedy, Powell River, BC
12:30 • 2 Humpback Whale heading East by Kelsey Bay, Johnstone Strait. A second whale was also sighted but couldn’t get a picture.
Joyce Ellis, Kelsey Bay, BC
Bill Taylor, Powell River
Sat Sep 26 2015
Liz Kennedy, Powell River, BC
Jordan McLean, Painter’s Lodge
Elvis, Eagle Eye Adventures
09:45 • 2 Humpback Whale heading North just North of Myrtle Rocks about 2/3 way across Malaspina Strait. They are in front of the new mine on Texada from our vantage point. ▫ Observed from Shore
Wendy Heathcote, Powell River
09:00 • 1 Humpback Whale foraging, close to the Saltery Bay, Jervis Inlet. Luckily it moved out of the way before the ferry came in.
Bob Brooks, Powell River
Fri Sep 25 2015
18:00 • 1 Humpback Whale We’ve had a Humpback Whale in this area for the past few weeks. It’s behaving a bit odd lately, just loligagging around. We did have a couple of good shows before with tail slaps etc. Now we’ve noticed another smaller blow with it. ▫ From Ferry
Bob, Island Sky Ferry
15:21 • 1 Humpback Whale heading North by Browns Bay along the Vancouver Island shoreline Discovery Passage.
Ed Sharkey, Painter’s Lodge
Radio, overheard or call out
Thu Sep 24 2015
Fabien Minfray, Campbell River Whale Watching
16:02 • 1 Humpback Whale heading South just North of Surge Narrows, Whiterock Passage. ▫ Leaving the Scene
Leif Nordman, Campbell River Whale Watching
Fabien Minfray, Campbell River Whale Watching
Jack Springer, Campbell River Whale Watching
Geoff Dunstan, Discovery Marine Safaris
12:00 • 3 Humpback Whale playing, by Cinque Islands. With the Pacific White Sided Dolphins in the same area.
Radio, overheard or call out
Jack Springer, Campbell River Whale Watching
Wed Sep 23 2015
John Lewis, Discovery Marine Safaris
12:37 • 3 Humpback Whale heading South by Middle Point, Discovery Passage. ?BCZ0004, Stripe? ▫ Leaving the Scene
Geoff Dunstan, Discovery Marine Safaris
12:09 • 1 Humpback Whale foraging,, Hole in the Wall. Doing very long dives. Quite slippery. ▫ On Scene
Kurt Staples, Eagle Eye Adventures
Susan MacKay, Whales and Dolphins B.C.
Aaron Webber, Campbell River Whale Watching
10:19 • 2 Humpback Whale doing circles, off Valdes Island looking towards Richmond, Georgia Strait. Watched two humpback whales this morning from our deck on Valdes Island! Doing large circles… We face directly across to Vancouver airport! Hard to tell which way they were actually heading!. ▫ Observed from Shore
Diane Rivers, Valdes Island
Jos Krijnen, Eagle Eye Adventures
Susan MacKay, Whales and Dolphins B.C.
Tue Sep 22 2015
17:15 • 1 Humpback Whale heading South-East by Diver’s Rock just NW of Lund, Malaspina Strait. The humpback swam SE around the point where a kayaker and SUP paddler were surprised by the whale surfacing and breathing quite close to them, then diving with flukes up. The humpback then surfaced heading NW and we saw the whale surface a couple more times before entering Thulin passage between the Ragged islands and the mainland about 6 pm. We weren’t close enough to get good enough video for ID.
Terry Brown and Jude Abrams, Powell River
10:40 • 2 Humpback Whale between Mitlenatch Island and Savary Island, Georgia Strait. There may be three of them. I’m seeing their blows reflected by the sun – beautiful.
Susan MacKay, Whales and Dolphins B.C.
Michelle Pennell, Powell River
Mon Sep 21 2015
Susan MacKay, Whales and Dolphins B.C.
John Lewis, Discovery Marine Safaris
Rhys, Campbell River Whale Watching
09:09 • 1 Humpback Whale heading East at the Southern tip of South Rendezvous Island, Whale Passage.
Jen Furst, Campbell River Whale Watching
Leif Nordman, Campbell River Whale Watching
Garry Henkel, Aboriginal Journeys Whale and Grizzly Bear Tours
Wed Sep 02 2015
Radio, overheard or call out
PACIFIC WHITE SIDED DOLPHINS
Tue Sep 29 2015
Kurt Staples, Eagle Eye Adventures
Jerry, Eagle Eye Adventures
09:00 • 200 PWS Dolphins being hunted, by Whiskey Point. The Orca are right behind. ▫ Leaving the Scene
Jack Springer, Campbell River Whale Watching
Mon Sep 28 2015
Jen Furst, Campbell River Whale Watching
11:58 • 200 PWS Dolphins doing circles, by the fish farm by Hardwicke Island at West end of Chancellor Channel.
Leif Nordman, Campbell River Whale Watching
Ed Sharkey, Painter’s Lodge
08:45 • 200 PWS Dolphins heading South took off out of Deepwater Bay rounded Separation Head in a hurry down Discovery Passage.
Elvis, Eagle Eye Adventures
Jos Krijnen, Eagle Eye Adventures
Sun Sep 27 2015
Name Withheld, by Request
Radio, overheard or call out
Sat Sep 26 2015
Jordan McLean, Painter’s Lodge
Thu Sep 24 2015
Leif Nordman, Campbell River Whale Watching
Jack Springer, Campbell River Whale Watching
Susan MacKay, Whales and Dolphins B.C.
Radio, overheard or call out
Tue Sep 22 2015
Rhys, Campbell River Whale Watching
Mon Sep 21 2015
Rhys, Campbell River Whale Watching
DALL’S PORPOISE
Thu Sep 24 2015
Fabien Minfray, Campbell River Whale Watching
Tue Sep 22 2015
Rhys, Campbell River Whale Watching
HARBOUR PORPOISE
Tue Sep 29 2015
10:00 • 4 Harbour Porpoise foraging, just off the beach 1 mile North of Mill Bay on the West side of Saanich Inlet. They were moving backwards and forwards in a relaxed manner probably feeding.
Martin Model, Mill Bay
Sun Sep 27 2015
Name Withheld, by Request
Tue Sep 22 2015
09:06 • 3 Harbour Porpoise foraging, in Gowland Harbour. ▫ Leaving the Scene
Susan MacKay, Whales and Dolphins B.C.
Mon Sep 21 2015
Susan MacKay, Whales and Dolphins B.C.
Sun Sep 20 2015
Susan MacKay, Whales and Dolphins B.C.
Have you seen a whale, dolphin or porpoise?
We are the non-profit Wild Ocean Whale Society
Call 1-877-323-9776or Emailyour report.