Date:29-10-2022

Sequence:1

Encounter Number:76

Enc Start Time:11:35

Enc End Time:12:47

Vessel:Mike 1

Observers:Mark Malleson

Pods or ecotype:T049A's

Location: south east of Race Rocks

Begin Lat/Long:48 15.59/123 26.24

End Lat/Long:48 19.81/123 22.99

 

Encounter Summary:

Mark and Fin left Victoria harbour at 0945 with plans to survey the waters of the western portion of the Juan de Fuca Strait.
They came across several lunge-feeding humpbacks working the herring balls forming in Race Pass and continued a westward track after a quick stop to get a sense of the spread.
Mike 1 ran west 3 nm off the Vancouver Island shoreline and while stopped off Sooke to wait for a diving humpback to reappear that was ahead of them. Mark received a call at 1058 from his friend and colleague Joe Zelwietro that a group of 4 or 5 killer whales had appeared south of Race Rocks heading east with a newish calf. Frustrated that he had missed them on his way west but with hopes that it was the T046B1's, seen by some of the commercial whale watchers the previous Sunday with a new calf, Mark decided to double back to take a look. 
He arrived with what turned out to be the T049A's at 1135 ~3 nm southeast of Race Rocks. T049A's eldest son, T049A1, nor her second eldest son, T049A2, were present as they are often dispersed from the family. 
The group of five animals, with the newest addition, T049A6, born in early 2022, were tight together, traveling southeast before they took a turn to the northeast and followed a tide line toward Constance Bank. 
At 1220 they stalled out just south of the southwest corner of the bank and appeared to have gotten a seal and prey shared before they continued on. 
Mark ended the encounter at 1247 and returned to Victoria harbour as they crossed Constance Bank and continued their northeast track.