Date: 29-Sep-18

Sequence: 1​

Encounter Number: 85

Enc Start Time: 09:20

Enc End Time: 09:40

Vessel: Orcinus

Observers: Dave Ellifrit and Stewart MacIntyre

Pods or ecotype: T65As​

Location: Battleship Island

Begin Lat/Long: 48 37.42/123 10.58

End Lat/Long: 48 37.40/123 10.28

 

Encounter Summary:

Jane Cogan called Dave at home with an early morning report of a group of whales near Open Bay. Dave and Stewart met at the boat and left Snug Harbor at 0910. We arrived on scene near Battleship Rock at 0920 to find the T65As spread out in two groups of three. We headed for the group with T65A2 in it while they were on a long dive. T65A2, T65A3, and T65A4 came up several minutes later nearer to Battleship and were in the process of attacking a seal. The seal was quickly dispatched after a few minutes and a blood plume among milling whales was evidence of a successful kill. T65A5 surfaced once near the boat during the seal kill but disappeared. T65A and T65A6 had also disappeared but without being photographed due to limited time and sloppy sea conditions. T65A2, T65A3, and T65A4 pointed east and we left them at 0940 near the RG buoy just north of Roche Harbor.