EncDate: 06/09/21

EncSeq: 2

Enc#: 65

ObservBegin: 12:58 PM

ObservEnd: 04:15 PM

Vessel: Mike 1

Staff: Mark Malleson

Other Observers: Joe Zelwietro

Pods: K, L

LocationDescr: Everest-Nitinat

Start Latitude: 48 30.7

Start Longitude: 124 49.6

End Latitude: 48 37.9

End Longitude: 124 56.8

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EncSummary:

Mark and Joe departed Port Renfrew at 1130 after fuelling and settling in for the first day of late summer and fall fieldwork around Swiftsure Bank and the western reaches of the Juan de Fuca. Having had reports of Southern Residents in the area over the past week, they first aimed offshore and then toward the Bank.
After about an hour of running time, they decided to drop a hydrophone and scan both visually and acoustically. They spotted a few sparse humpbacks before hearing what sounded like echolocation clicks! They carried on west in anticipation and very shortly spotted several distinctive dorsal fins cresting the swell. The animals were two miles from them, but as Mark and Joe closed the gap, they began to realize just how many animals were present, with more popping up between the bulls they had initially detected.
The encounter began at 1300 at 48° 30.7’ N / 124° 49.6’ W, with most members of K pod tightly grouped and charging north toward Nitinat on the Vancouver Island shore. The Mike 1 crew noticed several more animals ahead of the K pod whales, so they made their way there and found L25 and the L54s, including L88. The L12s and L22s, along with L85, traveled near this group as all continued toward the Island. K16 and K35 were just ahead of this loose grouping with L82 and L116 and appeared to be leading the charge today.
As the animals reached approximately 2.0 nm from shore, they fanned out in several directions to forage alone or in pairs. The trailing K pod whales quickly caught up and joined in. After splitting, the bulk of K pod again formed a large social group. This behaviour carried on for 10 minutes. Mark and Joe decided to move on in hopes of documenting some predation as all of the observed whales, including a boisterous L116, were foraging west. The animals were at this point spread across several miles, and after spotting and photographing L87, they decided to end the encounter at 1616 at 48° 37.9’ N / 124° 56.8’ W, with both L87 and L88 now heading back offshore roughly 300 m from one another.