Date: 04-Feb-17

Sequence: 1

Encounter Number: 13

Enc Start Time: 11:00

Enc End Time: 13:50

Vessel: Mike 1

Observers: Mark Malleson

Pods or ecotype: Jpod

Location: Otter Point

Begin Lat/Long: 48 19..5/123 55.3

End Lat/Long: 48 22.5/124 07.1

 

Encounter Summary:

I left Victoria Harbour at 10:15 in search of J's/L87 knowing that they were seen going south down San Juan Channel the previous evening just before dark and calls were heard on the LK hydrophone at ~1am. As I was leaving the dock I got a late report of killer whales seen off of Sooke at ~9:00 so my hopes were very high.
At 1100 I came across J16, J50 and 42 offshore of Sooke travelling west. I spent close to an hour observing them and keeping an eye out for more before continuing on to find the rest. Approximately 3 miles ahead and offshore I spotted several others which included J26 and L87. One of the two bulls was quite frisky as I saw him waving his member around. J27 was the furthest west and south of any that I could find. I left the main group which included J17, J53, J26 and L87 ~ 4 miles south west of Jordan River at 1350 still traveling west. They were moving up to 8 knots at times with the outgoing ebb. I didn't observe any obvious foraging.