EncDate:01/01/24 

EncSeq:2

Enc#:02

ObservBegin:12:40 PM

ObservEnd:02:10 PM

Vessel:Mike 1

Staff:Mark Malleson

Other Observers:Joe Zelwietro

Pods: Bigg's killer whales

LocationDescr:South of Race Rocks

Start Latitude:48 15.01

Start Longitude:123 28.05

End Latitude:48 15.33

End Longitude:123 38. 93

 

EncSummary:

Upon departing the T060s, Mark and Joe motored 15 miles east, hoping to reacquire a group of ~ five killer whales that had been reported by the Victoria Clipper V on her morning crossing from Seattle to Victoria. Fortunately, Mark was able to mobilize spotter extraordinaire, George Hamilton, ashore in Victoria with his image stabilized Zeiss 20 x 60s. He managed to spot the whales and steer Mike 1 to them, an impressive 11 miles from his perch on the Victoria waterfront! The animals were nearing the VF buoy south of Race Rocks by the time the encounter started, and they were happy to find some rarer visitors to the area in the T073As. This foursome – T073A and her offspring T073A1, a mature bull, T073A2 and T073A3 – is more well known from SE Alaska, but do make occasional forays into the Salish Sea, often in mid-winter and early summer. The whales were travelling restfully west in the Juan de Fuca, and the team was able to capture both right- and left-side ID photos of all four. T073A and T073A1 were giving the odd tail-lob and as the whales picked up their pace the guys suspected they had heard others. The T060s (Encounter #01) would be within acoustic range, but the T073As seemed to be angling southwest rather than toward Vancouver Island.
After a few moments scanning ahead, Joe spotted what the T073As had heard: more killer whales, these ones moving northeast from the direction of Crescent Bay. Mike 1 trolled that way and just after 1300 came across a large group of Bigg’s. These animals were actually making little way northeast, apparently more interested in socializing. Present were the T075Bs, the T075Cs, and the T077s, for a total of 11 Bigg’s killer whales! Some excitement was added when a very young calf was spotted alongside T075C, its fetal folds and ruffled dorsal fin still very obvious. This is T075C’s fourth calf and though she lost her first two in the early years of life, it looks healthy and energetic.
The whales were quite vocal, and tail-lobbing frequently with the odd dorsal slap mixed in. Eventually, the T073As joined the fracas from the east and the socializing continued. The guys kept half an eye on the Vancouver Island shore, some 3 miles north of them, anticipating the T060s’ possible approach, before Joe finally spotted them about two miles north of the large group. Although they were now aiming southwest, they did not seem to be making much speed and by the time Mark and Joe ended the encounter the T060s were still over a mile northeast of the rest. The whales continued their playful behaviour for some time, settling only a little for the final ten minutes of the encounter. The Mike 1 crew ended the encounter south of Beechey Head at 1410, leaving all 15 animals facing west in a loose grouping. 
After ending the encounter, the CWR team did approach the northern group to confirm that they were indeed the T060s, whom they had documented west of Sooke in the morning. The T060s were moving gradually toward the large aggregation offshore, but were not closing the gap quickly.

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