2021 Encounters

EncDate: 11/09/21

EncSeq: 1

Enc#: 70

ObservBegin: 02:44 PM

ObservEnd: 04:33 PM

Vessel: Orcinus

Staff: Dave Ellifrit, Michael Weiss

Other Observers: Charli Grimes

Pods: J, K, L

LocationDescr: Haro Strait

Start Latitude: 48 49.773

Start Longitude: 123 14.717

End Latitude: 48 34.770

End Longitude: 123 11.651

EncSummary:

Michael received word that a large group of residents was making their way southeast from the northern entrance of Active Pass. The team initially planned to wait for the whales to approach East Point, however the whales took a sharp turn and headed down Active Pass and then Swanson Channel. The team left the dock at 14:19 to catch up with the whales as they made their way south.

The team arrived on scene with whales near Turn Point at 14:44. Initially, they found a few spread out whales, including members of J and K pod. After a brief look at K44, J35, and J57, they followed K42 and J47 for a while as they made their way south. A bit later, they were able to parallel K26 to get right side photo identification shots. The team then briefly encountered J36, before moving to a large male they had sighted offshore.

This large male turned out to be L87, a whale they had seen in previous encounters but had not gotten a chance to get clear ID shots of. The team paralleled the whale for some time, during which he did a large cartwheel followed by an impressive breach. After photographing his left and right sides, the team moved to a nearby pair of whales, K22 and K33, who were just ahead of another small group composed of the members of the J16s that the team hadn’t yet seen that day.

Behind these small groups was a large, tight group of whales, moving steadily south. The team moved into position to parallel this group and determine its composition. This group was composed of the J11s (except J39), the L47s (except L47), the L86s, the L72s, and L90, with the K16s following close behind everyone else. The team started on their left side before slowly moving to their right as the whales moved past Kellet Bluff and made their way south. The J16s were inshore of this group, right on the rocks of Henry Island. As the team moved inshore to head home, they encountered L103 and L123, who ended up being the last whales of the day. The team ended their encounter at 16:33 and made the short trip back to Snug.

Photos taken under Federal Permits

NMFS PERMIT: 21238/ DFO SARA 388