Date: 29-May-2017

Sequence: 1

Encounter Number: 39

Enc Start Time: 17:15

Enc End Time: 18:36

Vessel: Orcinus

Observers: Dave Ellifrit

Pods or ecotype: Transients

Location: Boundary Pass

Begin Lat/Long: 48 43.27/123 07.03

End Lat/Long: 48 38.24/123 02.65

 

Encounter Summary:

Dave had been working at CWR for most of the day while listening to the radio talk about transients west of Victoria, a larger mob of transients in the southern Strait of Georgia, and even J pod was found up near Pt. Roberts later in the day. By about 1630, a large group of the Georgia Strait transients were heading south in Boundary Pass so Dave headed down to Snug Harbor and left at 1650.

Dave arrived on scene about mid-Boundary Pass a little north of Sandy Point on Waldron Island at 1715. The whales were traveling south fairly quickly and spread out in three or four tight groups. T77A and T87 were traveling together about a half mile to the northwest of the T86As, T124Ds, and T124A1. The rest of the T124As and the T100s (minus the T100Bs who were not present) were a little further to the southeast of this group. All the groups were heading south-southeast toward San Juan Channel until about 1805 when the T86As/T124Ds, along with the T100s ahead of them, turned east just south of White Rock. The T124As had moved to the east of White Rock but had now come back a little west and all the T86As, T100s, T124As, and T124Ds began energetically milling in the same spot at 1810. There was some explosive breathing from several of the milling whales but it was unclear if they made a kill or were just socializing.
While the others were milling, T77A and T87 moved closer to them and briefly passed them up. The milling whales soon started charging back southeast toward Spring Passage between Jones and Orcas Islands. The encounter ended at 1836 about a mile north of Jones Island with the whales still charging southeast loosely spread out in three or four tight groups.