EncDate:06/05/23 

EncSeq:2

Enc#:18

ObservBegin:11:48 AM

ObservEnd:12:48 PM

Vessel:Mike 1

Staff:Mark Malleson

Pods:Transients

LocationDescr:Middle Bank

Start Latitude:48 21.43

Start Longitude:123 07.12

End Latitude:48 23.15

End Longitude:123 08.73

 

EncSummary:

At 1053 Mark had left the T002Cs along with T065A5 and the T023Cs to document a group of 18 Bigg’s that were milling around Middle Bank. The south wind against the ebb current made for slow going but Mike 1 arrived with the spread grouping at 1148. He saw T063, T065, T065A2, T125A, and T128 milling about a quarter mile to the west of the others, who were also milling about with lots of direction changes.

Mark got word that Joe and 4Ever Wild had confirmed that T023 and the T023Ds were present; the rest of the T065As and the T065Bs made up the rest of the gang. Prior to his arrival, all of the animals had been milling together in the area for nearly an hour but were now beginning to disperse slightly. While Mark sat patiently waiting for opportunistic identification shots of the animals as they milled about in the choppy water, he spotted a bull nearly 0.75 nm to the north moving quickly northbound. He decided to leave the group to confirm which bull it was and assumed the rest would eventually follow him. Once Mark got abeam of the animal, he confirmed it was T125A. Cruising at a steady 8 knots north and with no sign of any others following suit, Mark decided to end the encounter at 1248 and head toward Oak Bay, and yet another group of Bigg’s were reported coming in from the west passing between Trial Island and the Victoria Golf Club in Enterprise Channel.

Note: Later, reports from the commercial whale-watch fleet reported that the large pod had split into three separate northbound groups from Middle Bank. T125A and T128 travelled northwest across Johnstone Reef to Cordova Channel alone, T065 led her kin (T063, the T065As, and the T065Bs) up San Juan Island’s western shoreline until they too split at Kellett Bluff, Henry Island, and the T023s made their way through the San Juans via Cattle Pass and Upright Channel before emerging into Rosario Strait near Obstruction Island by early evening.

Photos taken under Federal Permits

NMFS PERMIT: 21238/ DFO SARA 388