EncDate:09/07/22 

EncSeq:1

Enc#:37

ObservBegin:02:20 PM

ObservEnd:04:15 PM

Vessel:Mike 1

Staff:Mark Malleson

Other Observers:Brendon Bissonnette, Joe Zelwietro, Amy Mahoney

Pods:J, K, L

LocationDescr:North east of Race Rocks

Start Latitude:48 19.13

Start Longitude:123 30.77

End Latitude:48 21.88

End Longitude:123 20.38

 

EncSummary:

Mark, Brendon, Joe & Amy departed from Victoria harbour at 1400 to follow up on a report of Southern Resident killer whales heading east near Sooke. Mark was the first to spot the whales, just northeast of Race Rocks and the encounter began at 1421.

The first whale to appear was L91! She was travelling northeast, with an array of animals to the west of her. From the number of dorsal fins, it seemed likely that more than one pod was present and this suspicion was confirmed moments later by a quick pass from K27 on Mike 1's port side.

The team began making their way south toward a larger group in hopes of locating the calf that had been reported with K pod in an encounter off the Oregon coast in April.

On the way, Brendon spotted a couple of whales with what appeared to be a young calf and Mark adjusted course for further inspection. Sure enough, these whales turned out to be K38 and his mother, K20, along with a little calf! The young whale surfaced once for every two breaths from its mother, so a couple surfacings passed before the team was able to successfully photograph the calf.

After taking a few shots of the calf’s right side, the team set their sights back to the sizable group to the south. These whales were identified as the K12s and the remainder of the K13s, along with the L72s, L86s, L91s, L87 and K35.

Joe then pointed out another group of whales, which included J38. Mike 1 slowly repositioned and, at 1520, located most of J pod in a tight group, less J44 and the J35s. Behind them by a few hundred meters were the K14s and the missing J35s.

Once proof-of-presence photos were taken, Mike 1 turned west to find the trailing whales and wrap up the encounter. The first pair of whales that were spotted were L103 and L123, circling. The two whales slowed and joined the rest of the L4s, who were pushing east quickly. The L72s and L87 were also in the mix again, suggesting they’d turned back to join their fellow pod members. Shortly after finding this group, they became active when the wake of a nearby freighter passed over them; L83 cartwheeled, L106 began porpoising and L118 tail-slapped twice!

The Mike 1 crew decided to take one final look at some of the eastern groups to see if they could find any of the missing individuals. They were able to add K16 to the total before one final look at K20 and her new calf. The encounter ended at 1615 with the K12s, K13s and K16s moving east quickly with the flood.