Enc Date: 20/02/20

Enc Seq: 1

Enc #: 07

Observ Begin: 11:40 AM

Observ End: 04:25 PM

Vessel: Orcinus

Staff:Dave Ellifrit

Pods: J

LocationnDescr: Strait of Georgia

Start Latitude: 48 54.00

Start Longitude: 48 47.00

End Latitude: 123 12.00

End Longitude: 123 00.00

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EncSummary:

Jane Cogan called Dave to let him know that she and Tom were out on their boat “Morning Star” with Melisa Pinnow aboard and they had found J pod several miles north of Active Pass heading southeast. Dave grabbed his gear, headed to Snug Harbor, and left in the boat at about 1030. Dave arrived on scene at 1140 about a half mile or so east of Active Pass. The first whale seen was J19 and then she was followed by a loose pair of J16 and J36. J16 and J36 were foraging and milled a little before continuing south. And so began a long but pleasant day (the water was flat and the weather was beautiful) looking hard for the next whale as J pod was incredibly spread out. The whales were spread over a 3-4 square mile area from near the Gulf Islands shoreline to mid-Georgia Strait. Over the course of the afternoon, all members of J pod were eventually found and photographed. The only J pod whale Dave did not see was J45 but he was seen by other boats. There was reason to believe that L87 did not come in with J pod as he was the only whale we would have expected to see that was not seen by any of the boats present. The encounter ended around 1625 near Boiling Reef with J27 and J47 foraging together while J35 was in the general area. J pod was last reported heading east toward Rosario Strait.

NotesComments: