EncDate: 24/09/21

EncSeq: 1

Enc#: 79

ObservBegin: 11:16 AM

ObservEnd: 11:38 AM

Vessel: Orcinus

Staff: Dave Ellifrit, Michael Weiss

Other Observers: Charli Grimes

Pods: Transients

LocationDescr: Boundary Pass

Start Latitude: 48 43.195

Start Longitude: 123 10.261

End Latitude: 48 45.628

End Longitude: 123 55.963

 

EncSummary:

Michael heard reports of a good sized group of unidentified killer whales north of Stuart Island in the mid-morning. At 10:47, Dave, Michael, and Charli left Snug Harbor to go see which whales were around.

The team arrived on scene at 11:16 south of Blunden with the T65Bs, T36s, along with T65A5. They had apparently just finished a kill, and were milling in a tight group and being quite social, with lots of surface active behaviors. At least one whale had parts of a prey item in its mouth, although its not clear from our photographs whether this is a seal or a porpoise. The whales started slowly trending northeast. They briefly split into two groups, with the T65Bs somewhat behind the rest of the whales.

The whales continued to trend northeast towards the Gulf Islands. After a few good passes, the team decided to call the encounter at 11:38 and headed back to the dock at Snug.

NotesComments:

Photos taken under Federal Permits

NMFS PERMIT: 21238/ DFO SARA 388