Date: 01-Jul-2019

Sequence: 1

Encounter Number: 41

Enc Start Time: 12:35

Enc End Time: 12:55

Vessel: Orcinus

Observers: David Ellifrit, Michael Weiss

Pods or ecotype: Transients

Location: Spieden Channel

Begin Lat/Long: 48 37.15/123 10.13

End Lat/Long: 48 37.16/123 10.20

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Encounter Summary:

Around noon, reports came in about a small group of transients in Spieden Channel, heading towards Roche Harbor. At 1225, Michael and Dave left Snug, and within ten minutes arrived on scene with the Transients, just north of Pearl Island. At first, the team thought that they were looking at the T65As with some extras, as the first identifiable whale was male T65A2, however it soon became clear that the rest of the matriline was not present. Instead, the team figured out that T65A2 was travelling with more distant relatives, the T65B matriline. The whales appeared to have perhaps just finished making a kill, and slowly travelled west out of Spieden Channel. The team received reports of another, large group of transients to the northeast, so after photographing the whole group they left the scene at 1255.