EncDate:31/07/23 

EncSeq:1

Enc#:39

ObservBegin:11:55 AM

ObservEnd:12:06 PM

Other Vessel:Sweet Revenge

Staff:Michael Weiss

Other Observers:Darren Croft

Pods:Transients

LocationDescr:Rosario Strait

Start Latitude:48 35.38

Start Longitude:122 45.08

End Latitude:48 36.12

End Longitude:122 44.66

 

EncSummary:

Michael and Darren had been on Orcas Island for the morning to discuss killer whale and Chinook salmon research with the team at Long Live the Kings. During their meeting, they heard a report of a group of Bigg's killer whales making their way up Rosario Strait. After finishing their meeting, they decided to make a quick detour before heading back to San Juan Island to get back to some important on-shore tasks.

They arrived on scene with the whales at 1155 between Cypress and and Blakely Island, with the T137s and T36s heading north. The whales were in a pretty typical resting pattern, moving in a tight group with regular surfacings interspersed with some very long dives. The team approached slowly from the whales right, aiming for a single photo-ID pass.

On the first approach, the whales ended their surfacing sequence before the team could get parallel with them. The team then tried to pace the whales while they were underwater. After a couple minutes, the whales re-surfaced just a bit behind the vessel, so the team slowed down and let the whales catch up.

The whales were in a tight formation, more-or-less organized by matriline; T137A and T137D stuck close together, while T36 and T36B led the group with T36B3 in tow. The team stuck parallel to the whales for one surfacing sequence. Looking at their watches and confident that they had everyone in the group documented, the team decided to make it a very brief encounter, pealing off at 1206 and starting the long trek back to Snug.

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