16 March 2011
Wow, what a great morning! We got a report of 5 transients headed East by Alert Bay at 0900 this morning. Then we spotted 5 transients, 1 male, 1 sprouter & 3 smaller fins, (most likely the same ones) heading South in Blackney. They went deep into Parson Bay, maybe having some lunch, when all of a sudden another group of 4 transients, 1male & 3 small fins, showed up mid-channel in Balckney also heading South!!! They are all out of view now still Southbound in a lose group. We have only heard one vocal so stay tuned there may be more?!!?Marie & Leah
16 Mar 2011 10:58:58 PST
The T010's were definitely in the mix in the first group, stay tuned for other ID's...
Marie
The second group was the T55s! They had a brief meeting with a few individuals from the first group before they all headed east in Johnstone Strait, in their original groupings. They were last spotted from CP around 1220 abeam Robson Bight.
Leah
It appears that the 2 females with the T010's were T026 and T026A.
Marie
22 March 2011,
Helena & Paul have spotted 2 orca, 1 male & 1 female, heading West by Alert Bay right now!
Marie
22 Mar 2011 12:35:14 PST
Talked with the Mackays in Port McNeill. They are seeing the same transients nearing McNeill Bay. They see 3 which is the same count Declan got as they passed Alert bay heading wet. Bill and Donna think they may have just done a kill judging by all the birds around.
Helena & Paul
22 Mar 2011 13:58:57 PST
Jackie and Angela have spotted the transients, it is the T010's and T026's! They are now off Ledge Point heading West.
Marie & Leah
22 Mar 2011 14:50:48 PST
May 4, 2011
No calls but orcas nearby
The crew out at Salmon Coast field station spotted 5 Transient Orca in Fife Sound today! So, I guess where there are dolphins there are whales! Still hoping for them to come a little closer to the lab though ;)
Leah
04 May 2011 17:02:31 PDT
Just an update on yesterdays Orca in Fife. Based on photos of a few of the whales and the groups size it appears to be the T10s and T26s. These two groups were traveling together back on March 16th in front of the lab.
Leah
05 May 2011 05:19:29 PDT
08 May 2011
No calls but orcas nearby
The T10s and T26s just headed North in Blackney Pass! The were rolling, tail slapping, doing head stands and rubbing each other as they quietly traveled by. They must have been chomping down on some prey as the seagulls hovered above them during their entire time through the Pass.Leah
08 May 2011 12:41:28 PDT
The T10s and T26s just headed North in Blackney Pass! The were rolling, tail slapping, doing head stands and rubbing each other as they quietly traveled by. They must have been chomping down on some prey as the seagulls hovered above them during their entire time through the Pass.Leah
08 May 2011 12:41:28 PDT
Superb sounds!!
They have become quite vocal on Flower with lots of whistles!Leah
08 May 2011 12:51:20 PDT
They have become quite vocal on Flower with lots of whistles!Leah
08 May 2011 12:51:20 PDT
The Transient calls continued, intermittently, until 1404. They were last spotted in the middle of Blackfish Sound heading towards Stubbs Island at approximately 1324. Leah
08 May 2011 18:55:00 PDT
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
On the late afternoon trip on Maya's Westside Charters we encountered T10, T10B, T10C, T26 and T26A as they traveled south in Haro Strait. We left them west of Kelp Reef traveling southwest. I'll post pictures on my blog.
Jeanne Hyde, San Juan Island, WA
May 26
We spent a great day on the water yesterday (5/26) with Island Adventures, and saw a group of Transients up near Chatham Island. We were told they were T26, T26A, T10, T10B and T10C. They appeared to be feeding close to shore for a bit...going in circles and splashing, with lots of tail flaps and a spy hop....fantastic! Then they headed up North toward Haro Strait.
Cheers,
Sue & Marty McDaniel, The Blue Goose Inn, Coupeville, WA
May 26
Dave Ellifrit, Erin Heydenreich, Mercedes Powell, and Kira Kranzler of the Center for Whale Research departed Snug Harbor at 3:30 p.m., with reports of transients heading north near Kelp Reef. We encountered the group of five transients traveling north at 3:44 pm, about 1.5 miles north of Kelp Reef (48° 31.45 N; 123° 13.33 W). The whales consisted of T26, T26A, T10, T10B and T10C.
We followed the whales for several hours while they slowly traveled north up Haro Strait. During most of their travel they were very spread out. At 6:55 p.m. we ended our encounter , and began our trip back to Snug Harbor, only to be called back to the scene a few minutes later because the transients were hunting a porpoise. We arrived back at the scene just as the hunt was concluded, with the whales appearing to have made a successful kill. We departed for a second time at 7:20 p.m., leaving the whales milling around their suspected kill, three quarters of a mile east of Morseby Island (48° 42.80 N; 123° 16.02 W).
Center for Whale Research, San Juan Island, WA
June 16, 2011
A group of 5 Transient orcas were located heading west, just north of Portland Island. The group has been id'ed as T10, T10B, T10C, T26, and T26A. Shortly after we arrived at about 1230, the group changed direction - a seal hunt was on. They took one seal, then logged on the surface for a short time before resuming the hunt for a second seal. The second seal was still alive when we left at approximately 13:30. Photo below of T26A with an impressive show of power and spray.
Joan Lopez, Naturalist, Vancouver Whale Watch
Transient T26A hunting a seal, June 16, 2011, Portland Island
Photo by Joan Lopez, Vancouver Whale Watch
June 16
Did see Transients this morning just below Sidney. T10's and T26's.
Went out with Mark Malleson (Prince of Whales, Victoria, B.C.).
Peter Pijpelink, the Netherlands
June 17
Canadian Salish Sea waters today, by Sydney and the D'Arcy Islands! Another group of 4 Transient Killer Whales using the strong flooding tide, heading north, at about 1:45pm. They were swimming slowly in a fairly tight group, taking long dives, and like the ones yesterday, I wonder if they were resting a bit, letting that tide move them along? We indentified T-10 with her son T-10A, and youngster T-10C. We also identified T-26, but I did not see her 21 year old T-26A, who was sighted the day before with this group. The Center for Whale Research was out there, hopefully got photos to verify the group. As we left at 2:30pm we noticed Harbor Seals and Harbor Porpoise in Spieden and San Juan Channels, while not a one by Sydney or in Haro Strait- they must have got the word about the Transients!
Caroline Armon, Odyssey, San Juan Excursions, San Juan Island, WA
19 juni 2011
It turns out that there were two groups of transients travelling up the strait. Unfortunately they decided to remain quiet while in range of the hydrophones. Marie and company were able to identify them as the T10s and T26s as well as T18 and the T19s.
Elizabeth
19 Jun 2011 18:08:21 PDT
08 May 2011 18:55:00 PDT
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
On the late afternoon trip on Maya's Westside Charters we encountered T10, T10B, T10C, T26 and T26A as they traveled south in Haro Strait. We left them west of Kelp Reef traveling southwest. I'll post pictures on my blog.
Jeanne Hyde, San Juan Island, WA
May 26
We spent a great day on the water yesterday (5/26) with Island Adventures, and saw a group of Transients up near Chatham Island. We were told they were T26, T26A, T10, T10B and T10C. They appeared to be feeding close to shore for a bit...going in circles and splashing, with lots of tail flaps and a spy hop....fantastic! Then they headed up North toward Haro Strait.
Cheers,
Sue & Marty McDaniel, The Blue Goose Inn, Coupeville, WA
May 26
Dave Ellifrit, Erin Heydenreich, Mercedes Powell, and Kira Kranzler of the Center for Whale Research departed Snug Harbor at 3:30 p.m., with reports of transients heading north near Kelp Reef. We encountered the group of five transients traveling north at 3:44 pm, about 1.5 miles north of Kelp Reef (48° 31.45 N; 123° 13.33 W). The whales consisted of T26, T26A, T10, T10B and T10C.
We followed the whales for several hours while they slowly traveled north up Haro Strait. During most of their travel they were very spread out. At 6:55 p.m. we ended our encounter , and began our trip back to Snug Harbor, only to be called back to the scene a few minutes later because the transients were hunting a porpoise. We arrived back at the scene just as the hunt was concluded, with the whales appearing to have made a successful kill. We departed for a second time at 7:20 p.m., leaving the whales milling around their suspected kill, three quarters of a mile east of Morseby Island (48° 42.80 N; 123° 16.02 W).
Center for Whale Research, San Juan Island, WA
June 16, 2011
A group of 5 Transient orcas were located heading west, just north of Portland Island. The group has been id'ed as T10, T10B, T10C, T26, and T26A. Shortly after we arrived at about 1230, the group changed direction - a seal hunt was on. They took one seal, then logged on the surface for a short time before resuming the hunt for a second seal. The second seal was still alive when we left at approximately 13:30. Photo below of T26A with an impressive show of power and spray.
Joan Lopez, Naturalist, Vancouver Whale Watch
Transient T26A hunting a seal, June 16, 2011, Portland Island
Photo by Joan Lopez, Vancouver Whale Watch
June 16
Did see Transients this morning just below Sidney. T10's and T26's.
Went out with Mark Malleson (Prince of Whales, Victoria, B.C.).
Peter Pijpelink, the Netherlands
June 17
Canadian Salish Sea waters today, by Sydney and the D'Arcy Islands! Another group of 4 Transient Killer Whales using the strong flooding tide, heading north, at about 1:45pm. They were swimming slowly in a fairly tight group, taking long dives, and like the ones yesterday, I wonder if they were resting a bit, letting that tide move them along? We indentified T-10 with her son T-10A, and youngster T-10C. We also identified T-26, but I did not see her 21 year old T-26A, who was sighted the day before with this group. The Center for Whale Research was out there, hopefully got photos to verify the group. As we left at 2:30pm we noticed Harbor Seals and Harbor Porpoise in Spieden and San Juan Channels, while not a one by Sydney or in Haro Strait- they must have got the word about the Transients!
Caroline Armon, Odyssey, San Juan Excursions, San Juan Island, WA
19 juni 2011
It turns out that there were two groups of transients travelling up the strait. Unfortunately they decided to remain quiet while in range of the hydrophones. Marie and company were able to identify them as the T10s and T26s as well as T18 and the T19s.
Elizabeth
19 Jun 2011 18:08:21 PDT
