Date: 05-Jan-17

Sequence: 1

Encounter Number: 1

Enc Start Time: 12:30

Enc End Time: 13:04

Vessel: Morning Star

Observers: Jane and Tom Cogan, Melisa Pinnow

Pods or ecotype: Transients

Location: Strait of Juan De Fuca

Begin Lat/Long: 48 30.817/124 27.69

End Lat/Long: 48 30.815/124 31.146

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Encounter Summary:

On January 5th, Tom and Jane Cogan and Melisa Pinnow were out exploring the Strait of Juan De Fuca aboard “Morning Star”. As they neared the entrance of Port Renfrew at 12:30 from the east, the dorsal fin of a large male killer whale rose out of the water inshore of them. Then many more whales appeared. “Morning Star” moved towards the large, tight group and found it consisted of thirteen individuals from the T11, T41, and T109 matrilines. The group was heading west at about 5 knots. After a long deep dive, the group surfaced offshore of the vessel, and then continued moving west with long dive times but extended periods of time at the surface to make up for it. The encounter was ended at 13:04, 2 miles west of where the whales were found.

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