22-Feb-17

Sequence: 1

Encounter number: 18

Encounter state time: 17:25

Encounter end time: 17:50

Vessel: Mike 1

Observers: Mark & Hanna Malleson

Ecotype: Transients

Location: Ten Mile Point

Begin lat/long: 48 28.0/123 16.0

End lat/long: 48 26.2/123 16.3

 

Encounter Summary:

We were coming south on the BC Ferries and shortly after we exited Active Pass at 1350 the third officer announced that there were a pod of killer whales off the port bow. We immediately recognized them to be the T018’s. They were grouped up and at one point one of the bulls was up side down as the ferry got within a quarter mile. The whales were southwest bound angling towards the Prevost Island side of Swanson Channel. We put the word out and planned on heading up there ourselves on Mike 1 once we were back in Victoria to look for them. A Prince of Whales zodiac, Peregrine and Ken Balcomb on Shachi went looking for the whales before we were able to get off the dock.

​

We left the dock at 1546 and ran up the Canadian side of Haro Strait to the bottom of Sidney Island where we took our first scan. We decided to run up Cordova Channel as Joe on Jester had run up Sidney Channel. Peregrine had gone from Boundary Pass through Plumper and out Navy Channel and back down Swanson. Ken had gone out through John’s Pass, passed Turn Point and checked out Mandarte Island and Halibut Island area. Joe had gone up where we assumed the T018’s would be (east side of Saltspring Island). With all this effort we decided to stay on the Canadian shoreline and look in the waters around Sidney also without success. With limited daylight we had to make tracks for home. We came back down Sidney Channel still hopeful that we had gone by them as the whales could have easily made it well south of Sidney with the strong ebb current. At 1735 when all hope was lost a killer whale popped up off our bow as we were approaching Ten Mile Point. It turned out to be the T060’s southbound. We watched them predate on likely a seal at 1739. We spent 25 minutes watching them continuing south in the diminishing day light through Oak Bay doing 6 knots with the ebb. We did not see T002B who is usually with the T060’s.

 

COMMENTS:

Feeding at 48 27.3/123 15.7