Tag: Sightings in 2015

A publication of Wild Ocean Whale Society (WOWs)

New SRKW Calf, Humpback Whales, Orca and One Dolphin

Note to Safari browser users: Apple software upgrades this week are preventing images from displaying on this site. To resolve the problem, please clear your Safari browser cache. On a Mac this is in Safari preferences. On iPad and iPhones, use the Settings app, Safari, Clear History and Website Data. Another calf for J-Pod boosts the…
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Humpback Whales in December, Orca, Dolphins and Porpoise

Humpback Whales in December is not the usual set of circumstances. We’ve had the odd one over the past number of years that may have stayed due to a calf that couldn’t make the migration, or some other reason, but this year we are seeing a number of them. Are they staying or are they…
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Southern Resident Orca and Humpback Whales Highlighted

Southern Resident Killer Whales from K-pod made one of their few Autumn forays into the upper Georgia Strait. They didn’t stay for long, but we can only hope they had a good feed. Transient Bigg’s Orca are being conspicuous by their absence, while we have a number of Humpback Whales still hanging around our inside…
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Killer Whales, Plenty of Humpback Whales and More

A few of the Northern Resident Killer Whales made an appearance at the top of Johnstone Strait. The remaining Orca sightings reports have been placed into the Unidentified category as we have not received confirmed ID’s. Some, we believe, were Southern Resident Orca, and most were Transient Bigg’s. Humpback Whales are still the majority of…
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Humpback Whales Still Making a Splash in BC Waters

Humpback Whales are the main focus for this week’s Sightings Update. A number of them appear to be staying in our coastal waters, at least a bit longer than usual. There are a few, presumably Transient Bigg’s Orca, but listed under the Unidentified Killer Whale section since we have no confirmed identifications. Otherwise, Southern Resident…
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New Calf J53 For the Southern Resident Orca – Whales All Over!

We are thrilled to hear about yet another new calf for the Endangered Southern Resident Killer Whales. And J53 is such a cutie too! Our report covers a number of days including the Southern Residents, Northern Resident Orca, Transient Bigg’s, Humpback Whales, Dolphins and Porpoise. NEW Sightings Report Form Susan MacKay, Whales and Dolphins BC Society…
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Lots of Orca Activity – SRKWs and Bigg’s in Numbers plus Grey Whales, Dolphins and Porpoise

Many Transient Bigg’s Orca have been popping up. The Southern Resident Orca from K-pod and L-pod are making one of their few yearly visits to the top of Georgia Strait. Humpbacks and Grey Whales are still foraging back and forth. Dolphins and Porpoise seem to be spread out in different locations. With fewer boaters out…
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Vancouver Grey Whales, Transient Bigg’s Orca, Humpback Whales, Dolphins and Porpoise

Grey Whales have been making the news by being right in Vancouver to feed close to the shore giving people a great show as they walk along the shores of Stanley Park and Kitsilano. We believe the one that was running between Gibsons and Sechelt in prior reports has joined up with the one by…
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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…
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Cetacean Sightings and Map Update 2015-035

Humpback Whales have certainly been of note over the past few months. The Northern Resident Killer Whales have spent a bit less time than usual, but more than last year. Our "Resident" Transient Bigg’s Orca, the pod known as the T02C’s, have been spending most of their time in the upper Georgia Strait, while others…
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Grey, Minke, Humpback, Northern Resident and Transient Bigg’s Killer Whales Dolphins and Porpoise Too!

Many photos and reports covering a larger area with whales showing up in places they haven’t been in for a long time. This could be from the search for food, or that the food sources are returning to areas as we clean up our coast. The pattern change does make for many more sightings of…
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Cetacean Species Overlapping Whale, Dolphin and Porpoise Sightings

Many of the Cetacean species have been running into one another as they forage, hunt and travel. With all the activity, it had become a bit confusing to tell whether the Killer Whales being seen were Northern Resident Orca or Transient Bigg’s, so you may find a number of the reports in the Unidentified section…
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Whales, Dolphins, Porpoise Everywhere!

Whales, Dolphins and Porpoise Everywhere! The Northern Resident Orca have decided to spend some time down and around the Northern Georgia Strait. This is a return to some older times when they used to frequent the area. With Transient Bigg’s Orca also relatively close by, it’s always interesting to see how they try to avoid…
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Humpback Whales, Orca, Minke Whales as well as a Fin Whale with Dolphins and Porpoise Galore.

So much whale, dolphin and porpoise activity out there! It seems they are everywhere and more species than usual in our inside waters. The Northern Georgia Strait has been a hotspot for Humpback Whales and even a Minke Whale graced the area. Sechelt till has at least one Grey Whale who disappears when Transient Bigg’s…
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Orca Soup with Plenty of Humpbacks and Pacific White Sided Dolphins

A large number of Northern Resident Killer Whales graced our inside waters into Nodales Channel where they met up with a large group of Pacific White Sided Dolphins. Some Transient Bigg’s were just outside the channel at the same time making the activity hard to follow. There is thought that some of the Bigg’s continued…
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Humpback Whales Staying in the Northern Georgia Strait with SRKWs farther South and NRKWs in our Inner Channels

Humpback Whales have been a major focus in our reports with so many in our inside waters. It’s wonderful to see so many different whales around. Grey Whales have also made a great resurgence back into our waterways. We have fewer Transient Bigg’s and other Killer Whales in the report, but they are still popping…
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Catching Up Sightings Aug 1-6: Humpback Whales Galore in Our Inside Waters

This is the second in our Catching Up on our Cetacean Sightings Reports covering everything we have between August 1 to August 6. There are two reports that we missed at time of publishing, we apologize for that. Every sightings report is valuable and appreciated. Rest assured that it will go into the data files…
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Delayed Cetacean Sightings Report for July 30 and 31 – Plenty to See

With so much going on, we’ve managed to get behind with our long reports. There will be a couple of reports run back to back to get us updated. There is still plenty to read and see. Some excellent Dall’s Porpoise photos and the map is at the bottom of the report this time.Susan MacKay,…
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Whales and Winners – Another Long Cetacean Sightings Report

Whales have been everywhere. From Northern Resident Killer Whales, Humpbacks, our usual Transient Bigg’s Orca, to Grey Whales. Of course some of the smaller species reports are still coming in also; Pacific White Sided Dolphins, Dall’s Porpoise and some Harbour Porpoise in some larger groups. We’ve received a report of a Dolphin or Porpoise possibly…
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Northern Resident Orca, Breaching Humpbacks, Leaping Dolphins, some Transient Bigg’s and a Grey Whale

WOW! Northern Resident Killer Whales have returned in numbers from Alaska into Johnstone Strait. Our usual Transient Bigg’s Orca have been a bit aloof. More Humpback Whales are staying in the upper Georgia Strait than we’ve had in decades. A Grey Whale passed through the area heading up the coast and Pacific White Sided Dolphins…
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Many Orca, Humpbacks and Dolphins

Transient Bigg’s have been hunting all throughout the inner waters from Haro Strait to Johnstone Strait. Our usual T002C family pod continue to spend much of their time cruising the channels in the upper Georgia Strait. The Southern Resident Orca pods have been in and out of the inside waters by Victoria and Vancouver not…
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NEW Sightings Report with Maps – Humpback Whales and Transient Bigg’s Orca Everywhere

We are pleased to announce and present this launch of our new and improved Sightings Report with Maps. The map will be included in every report showing the locations of the sightings in the report. If you wish to jump to one specific report location, you can click on the icon directly following that report…
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Many Groups of Transient Bigg’s Killer Whales and More Humpback Whales Arriving

Transient Bigg’s Killer Whales have been all around in the Georgia Strait and Desolation Sound, while the Northern Resident pods still appear to be foraging up in Alaska. Humpback Whales also are being spotted more frequently in our inside waters now and we have a returning Humpback off Powell River again. The Pacific White Sided…
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Entangled Humpback Whale, Orca, Dolphins, and Other Whale Sightings plus Early Bird Draw Winners

Entangled Humpback Whale in Powell River is a huge newsmaker. The whale was basically tethered to one spot for seventeen or so hours before the disentanglement team from DFO arrived and managed to free it. We have no confirmed sightings of the whale since then. We’ve had a few Humpbacks in the area and only…
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Humpback Whale ‘KC’ Loves the Northern Georgia Strait, Transient Bigg’s Killer Whales Everywhere

Time’s running out to enter our Early Bird Draw! Remember, the names stay in the barrel for the final draw giving you 7 chances to win our great prizes. Please use our Donate button. Every $5 worth will be considered a ticket entry request unless you specify otherwise. Good Luck! Humpback Whales have been slowly…
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Transient Bigg’s and Southern Resident Orca, Humpback Whales, Dolphins and Porpoise

Transient Bigg’s Killer Whales T002C’s have been hanging around the area from somewhere down near the bottom of Texada to the bottom of Johnstone Strait. Another pod, possibly the T049A’s again, have gone into Desolation Sound. Southern Resident Orca reports are mostly from the lower Georgia Strait with a teaser of J-Pod coming closer to…
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Returning Humpbacks, Southern Resident and Transient Bigg’s Orca, Dolphins and Porpoise

Whales have made many appearances including J-Pod, the Southern Resident Killer Whales who seldom come up this far in Georgia Strait. The Transient Bigg’s Orca, meat eaters, have been popping up and making quite a splash – literally. While looking at/for Killer Whales, amazingly two Humpback Whales appeared. Quite a surprise. We also have Pacific…
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Busy Times with Cetaceans and Society Workings

It’s been very busy all round, but the Transient Bigg’s Killer Whales that were in the upper Georgia Strait in numbers up to 15 whales, have once again shed from our area. The Pacific White Sided Dolphins and Humpback Whales are coming back, and Dall’s and Harbour Porpoise are making a bit more of an…
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Killer Whales Popping Up Everywhere, Humpbacks, Pacific White Sided Dolphins, and Porpoise

A timely reminder as Summer boating season kicks in of the need to be cautious and slow down around any type of marine life. We are great advocates of courteous behaviour on the water and off. Remember NEWS when you are in the vicinity of whales: N=Neutral E=Enjoy W=Wait S=Slow. Slow is the operative word.…
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Spy Hopping Transient Bigg’s Killer Whales, Humpback ‘KC’, Dolphins and Porpoise

Yet another large Fin Whale has been struck by a cruise ship and carried into Burrard Inlet. This is the third in just the past few years and it’s not understood why these, second largest of the whales, seem to be struck in this manner. Perhaps others are as well, but since they tend to…
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