The 11 transients in QCS on Feb.5th were the T11's, T19's and T55's, they were around Foster island @1400 heading East, thanks to Christie & Jared for the update!
Marie & Leah
01 march 2011
Jared & Christie spotted the T019's and T055's by Donegal Head this afternoon, they headed South in Weynton. This may have been who we were listening to earlier today!?!
Marie & Leah
We've got beautiful, clear Transient calls on Flower Island!
Leah and Marie
01 Mar 2011 13:09:09 PST
The Transient calls lasted for about 15 minutes before they abruptly stopped calling on Flower Island. Wonder who they were?
Leah and Marie
16 March 2011
We went to Spieden Channel and happened upon more transients traveling east. - T18, T19, T19B and T19C.
More of the interesting encounter with the Spieden Channel Ts and the Steller sea lions on my blog.
Jeanne Hyde, San Juan Island, WA
Spieden Channel, Spiden Island, WA
March 16, 2011
Photo by Capt. Jim Maya
20 March 2011
Yea! We just had 4 transients, 1 male & 3 small fins, go quietly North through Blackney Pass!! Hopefully they speak up on Flower island hydrophone!
Marie & Leah
20 Mar 2011 09:49:50 PST
It seems as though the transients from yesterday may have been the T019's. They were spotted on March 16th in Spieden Channel, Spieden Island, Washington which is approx. 500 km away from Hanson island...a long way to travel in just over 3 days!!!
28 March 2011,
It appears as though the 6 Orca we spotted heading South out of Baronet were the T19s and T55s We can also conclusively say that the calls heard late last night were in fact Transient calls and the calls earlier in the evening were Offshores. So, this means that it was a day filled with 2 Orca ecotypes in the area. Wow!
Leah and Marie
28 Mar 2011 13:36:12 PST
May 12, 2011
5-12-2011 on Maya's Westside Charters in the afternoon, after receiving a call, we headed north and west to the north side of Galiano Island, B.C. where we encountered T20 and T21 heading east at 3:00. Farther east another boat came across T137, T137A and T137B. T137C was not present. Another boat was about 3 miles northwest of our location, returning to Vancouver, and came across several other whales. We did not see those whales and left the scene at 3:40. We made a return trip and at 5:35 encountered the same whales. However, this time many more whales approached from the west and joined the others. There was quite a lot of above water vocalizing and extraordinary surface action. The whales present included some of the same whales that were photographed at Lions Gate Bridge, Vancouver, B.C. Wednesday. The whales ID'd on the late encounter were: T20, T21, T137, T137A, T137B, T100, T100B, T100B1, T100C, T100E, T101, T101A, T101B, T102, T18, T19, T19B, T19C, T23, T23D, T26 and T26A. There was a total of 22 whales identified and possibly one or two more. I'll post more about the encounter along with a video clip and pictures on myblog.
Jeanne Hyde , San Juan Island
May 22. 2011
All day long, the same group of Transient Orca which included T019B T018 and T023 were almost down to Powell River. Although I scanned during the day, not a blow, splash or dorsal was spotted off Powell River. The closest they got was around Grant's Reef, just South of Sentry Shoal. This morning the Whale Watching boats caught up with them just inside Discovery Channel by Cape Mudge. So they didn't go very far. They did take a couple of Sea Lions close to Mittlenatch Island.
Susan MacKay, Whales and Dolphins BC
May 25, 2011
Well, as per our "norm" this year, we left the dock with vague rumors and muffled hints of perhaps maybe whales in the Salish Sea area. As we left the dock, we had a report of 5-6 orcas up near Gabriola Island, which was way too far for us. But we thought where there's one group, perhaps another one is lurking a bit closer. As we passed Flattop Island, we got another 2nd hand report of whales "somewhere between Active Pass and Pt. Roberts." Still a lot of area, but smaller than before. So we headed towards Eastpoint to view the Steller Sea Lions, and had just made the corner when out of nowhere----WHALES! I love it when our boat finds the whales that no one knows are around. Turns out we had stumbled upon T18 and T19, T19B, and T19C (see photo below). As they passed offshore of Boiling Reef, T19B went into overdrive and started rooster-tailing a huge spray off his dorsal fin. Hunting!!!! 5-6 high speed zig zags and it was over, and the group had a nice little snack on a small harbor porpoise. After lunch, the whales seemed to be a bit more sedate and continued around the point and headed for Skipjack. We wondered why we were the only boat with this great group of whales, and then we heard on the VHF that a large group of approximately 20 Transients (I think the T100s and T102s were a part of that group) were quite aways behind us heading for Alden Bank. AND another group were up near the Bellchain Islands. At last count, this meant we had about 28 Transients in the Strait of Georgia! So much for vague rumors! It was an amazing day.
John Boyd (JB), Marine Naturalist, Western Prince, Friday Harbor, WA
Transient orca T19B, Gulf Islands, BC, May 25, 2011
Photo by John Boyd, Western Prince
May 25, 2011
On Maya's Westside Charters in the afternoon we headed up Boundary Pass toward East Pt. where transients had been spotted. The 1st group we encountered were 4 whales, which included T19B (I could see three other whales with him & am assuming his constant companions T18, T19 and T19C, but I didn't get pictures of them for proof of presence.) We left them and headed toward Alden Bank. Just north of Sucia Island we encountered a 2nd group: T124C, T124A, T124A2, T124A3 and T124A4. We continued on and encountered a 3rd group: T100, T100B, T100B1, T100C, T100E, T101, T101A, T101B, T102, T124, T124D, T124E, T124A1, T36, T36B,and T36B1. They changed direction and the 2nd group and the 3rd group joined up heading back in the direction of Pt. Roberts.
On our way home, traveling through Boundary Pass we encountered a 4th group: T137, T137A and T137B. A grand total of 28 killer whales.
Of course I'll be posting to my blog about this exciting day on the water.
Jeanne Hyde, San Juan Island
May 28
Transient orcas the T19s yesterday near East Point, Santurna, Is. BC (see photo).
Capt. Jim Maya,
Maya's Westside Charters,
San Juan Island, WA
Transient orcas T19s attacking sea lion off Saturna Island, May 28
Photo by Capt. Jim Maya, Maya's Charters, San Juan Island, WA
31 May 2011
AT 10 AM 4 Transient Orca were spread in two groups across the Pass as they quietly headed north. They were later identified by Jared Towers as the T19s.
Leah, Nicole and Marie :)
31 May 2011 19:38:37 PDT
June 7, 2011
Got back to the dock after two trips today (6/7) and hear that four Orcas are at Lime Kiln. We all ran to the head and went back out in time to see the Transient Orcas T18 and the T19s, take a Dall's Porpoise off of Mitchell Pt., West Side, San Juan Island in Haro Strait (see photo below). Life and death in the San Juans! Amazing! 5:00 PM, June 7.
Capt. Jim Maya, Maya's Westside Charters, San Juan Island, WA
Transient Orca with Dall's porpoise (dinner), San Juan Island, June 7, 2011
Photo by Jim Maya, Maya's West Side Charters
