Photo by Dave Ellifrit
Photo by Dave Ellifrit
Photo by Dave Ellifrit
Photo by Dave Ellifrit
Encounter Summary:
Jane Cogan called Dave at home around 1230 to relay a report that transients had been found near President Channel. After a quick stop at CWR to pick up some gear, Dave headed down to Snug Harbor and left aboard Orca at 1320.
Orca arrived on scene about a mile north of East Point on Saturna Island at 1402. The T49A's, T68C's, T123's, and T68B2 were milling and socializing after a kill that happened before Orca's arrival. Several of the younger juveniles were splashing around with one another while the growing young bulls T49A1 and T123A, along with T49A3, were rolling around together nearby. The other whales were also milling in the same general area.
Around 1425, T68C, T68C3, and T68C4 broke off from the socializing whales and appeared to be resting several hundred yards to the west of the others. The threesome were taking long dives and being non-directional. After about ten minutes, the other whales steamed through where the three T68C's were resting and then T68C1 and T68B2 joined the resting whales. The T49A's and T123's continued socializing while the T68C's and T68B2 rested for about the next 25 minutes, neither group going in any one direction for very long.
Around 1507, the T49A's and T123A's began traveling west in a loose, mixed group. The T68C's and T68B2 were in a tighter group and were following the T49A's and T123A's by a couple hundred yards. Orca left the whales heading west about one mile north of Tumbo Island at 1528..
11-Nov-15
1
98
14:02
15:28
Orca
Dave Ellifrit
T49As, T68C's, T123's, and T68B2
T49A, T49A1, T49A3, T49A4, T68C, T68C1, T68C3, T68C4, T123, T123A, T123C, and T68B2
East Point/lower Strait of Georgia
48 47.76/123 02.21
48 48.75/123 04.29
Date:
Sequence:
Enc Number:
Start Time:
End Time:
Vessel:
Observers:
Pods/ecotype:
Orca ID's:
Location:
Begin Lat/Long:
End Lat/Long:
• Encounter #98 - Nov 11, 2015 •
Photos taken under Federal Permits
NMFS PERMIT: 15569/ DFO SARA 272