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EncDate:30/06/23 

EncSeq:1

Enc#:31

ObservBegin:12:30 PM

ObservEnd:04:00 PM

Vessel:Orcinus

Staff:Dave Ellifrit, Michael Weiss

Other Observers:Federica Spina, Rachel John

Pods:J, L

LocationDescr:Southern Strait of Georgia

Start Latitude:48 57.64

Start Longitude:123 05.19

End Latitude:48 47.10

End Longitude:123 00.96

EncSummary:

Michael had heard about whales coming in on the evening of 29-June and went to the west side to figure out who all was there. He photographed L25 and L85 along with a few J pod whales, confirming that at least J pod and the L12s made their way in. The team decided to leave early the next morning to catch up with the whales. A report of the whales going north through Active Pass early in the morning meant the team left Snug at 800 and headed north.

The team conducted a long search of southern Georgia Strait, starting near Point Roberts, then north to the mouth of the Fraser, and then across the strait towards Active Pass. While they found a pair of humpbacks, they didn't have any visual or acoustic contact with the residents and decided to refuel at Pt. Roberts.

As the team was refueling, they received a report of SRKW just east of Pt Roberts, heading their way. They left the harbor and almost immediately saw fins, starting their encounter at 1214.

The first two whales the team found were L22 and L25, travelling and foraging together with the J22s nearby. Further offshore, the team found a group of socializing whales and saw that there was a very small calf in the group. The calf was initially associated with L113, but not synchronizing with her or staying in the echelon position. After getting a few photos, it became clear to the team that this was not the same calf that was observed with the L12s off Tofino several days earlier.

The J35s approached L113 and the calf from behind, and J26 made a pass by before continuing on his way. The J35s were being very social, and eventually L113 mixed in with J47 and J57. Soon, L94 met up with the group and the calf immediately fell in along side her, staying in echelon position and synchronizing with her surfacing pattern, leading the team to suspect that L94, rather than L113, was the calf's mother. The team stayed with the group (including J44 who joined up a few minutes later) long enough to get photos of everyone, and especially dorsal and eyepatch photos of the new calf. The team decided to see if they could go find the calf that was documented off Tofino, and that they'd try to re-locate this calf before the end of the day to see which female it stayed associated with.

The team headed further offshore and found a large, social group of whales composed of the J16s, J19s, J39, L77s, J39, and L121. The group was very surface active, with lots of spyhops, breaches, and percussive behaviors. Sure enough, there was another young calf sticking solidly alongside L119. This calf's eyepatch and dorsal fin were a match for the calf photographed off Tofino. As this calf was documented first, we decided to designate it L126, and the other calf L127.

The calf was the center for attention for a lot of the socializing, with the other young whales in the group showing a lot of interest. The calf got rolled around a lot, but we weren't able to get a confirmation of its sex, but we were able to see that L126 appears to have an open saddle patch.

We stuck with the group to get ID photos, and observed L85 following behind at a distance. After several minutes, we broke off from the group and got photo documentation of L85. We soon broke off from L85 and went looking for L127 again, to see whether the calf was associating with L94 or L113. On the way, we found J44, J46, and J53 as well.

We soon located the calf again, and it was still solidly travelling with L94, sticking tightly to echelon position while L113 stuck off to the side. At this point, the team was confident that L94 was the calf's mother. Behind these whales, L85 and J26 briefly joined up and socialized together. The group was soon joined by L25, J31, J56, J35, and J57 as they moved down the strait. The team decided to call it a day and head off, taking one more pass of L94 and L127 before ending the encounter at 1600.

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Photos taken under Federal Permits

NMFS PERMIT: 21238/ DFO SARA 388