Date: 24-July-17

Sequence: 1

Encounter Number: 56

Enc Start Time: 13:10

Enc End Time: 13:48

Vessel: Orcinus

Observers: Dave Ellifrit, Astrid van Ginneken, Michael Weiss, and Sam Ellis

Pods or ecotype: Transients

Location: Minke Lake

Begin Lat/Long: 48 38.53/123 04.41

End Lat/Long:48 36.40/123 02.65

 

Encounter Summary:

While working in the office at CWR, we heard the report of a sighting of a bunch of whales heading down Boundary Pass near East Point. J and L pods had gone north the night before and we assumed this was them coming back down. Being eager for a good J and L pod encounter, we rushed out the door and headed down to the boat and left Snug Harbor at 1217. We headed north around Turn Point where we noticed boats heading east toward Flattop Island and nothing to the north coming down Boundary Pass. After asking on the radio what was going on, we found out that the Js and Ls coming down Boundary Pass on the Canadian side turned into a group of transients coming down Boundary on the Waldron Island side. After taking the long way, we eventually arrived on scene about three quarters of a mile east of White Rock at 1310. The T34s, T37, T37Bs, and the T46s were traveling southeast fairly quickly in a tight group toward Jones Island. The whales rounded Jones Island close to the southwest shoreline and then briefly angled a bit more south into San Juan Channel. We left the whales heading down San Juan Channel at 1348 about a quarter mile south of Jones Island.