Date: 06-Sep-18

Sequence: 1

Encounter Number: 73

Enc Start Time: 14:15

Enc End Time: 15:25

Vessel: Orcinus

Observers: Dave Ellifrit

Pods or ecotype: Transients

Location: East Point

Begin Lat/Long: 48 48.50/123 02.58

End Lat/Long: 48 47.58/122 59.40

 

Encounter Summary:

Dave was working in the CWR office when he heard a report over the radio of a large group of transients heading southeast toward East Point along the north side of Saturna Island. After heading down to Snug Harbor, Dave left in the boat at 1335 and arrived on scene about a mile north of East Point at 1415. There was one large, fairly tight group that included the T90s, T100Bs, T124Ds, T101, and T102 who were moving quickly southeast toward the green can buoy off East Point. There were a few peripheral whales traveling by themselves as much as a quarter mile away from any other whales. These peripheral individuals were T87, T101A, and T101B. There was possibly another lone female seen once in back lighting that could have been T2B but she was not seen again and was not photo’d. As the group neared the green can, the whales took a more easterly direction toward Patos Island.
While the large group was heading southeast off Saturna Island, the T18s were reported closer to the Saturna shoreline near the Belle Chains and were also heading southeast toward Tumbo Island. When the large group was about a mile west of Patos Island, the T18s were off the north side of Tumbo Island. Dave left the large group at 1455 and made it to the T18s just north of East Point about ten minutes later. The T18s were traveling easterly in a sometimes tight, sometimes loose group and the encountered ended at 1525 with them about a mile west of Patos Island.