EncDate:16/08/23 

EncSeq:1

Enc#:43

ObservBegin:05:31 PM

ObservEnd:06:37 PM

Vessel:Orcinus

Staff:Michael Weiss

Other Observers:Darren Croft, Chris Pinney

Pods:Transients

LocationDescr:Henry Island

Start Latitude:48 35.80

Start Longitude:123 12.62

End Latitude:48 37.29

End Longitude:123 09.78

 

EncSummary:

The team saw a large group of whales pass the Center for Whale Research, going north in the middle of Haro Strait. Michael, Darren, and Chris geared up and headed to Snug, with the hope of catching up with the whales just outside of the harbor. The team got off the dock at 17:18, and arrived on scene with the T36As and T46s at 17:31 off the southwest side of Henry Island.

The whales travelled in a fairly tight group as they made their way up the Henry shoreline, except for T46D who stayed a ways offshore. The team approached the group and saw T36A2 sharing a seal carcass with T36A5 in the rear of the group, as T46E, T122, and T36A lead the way.

The whales headed for Battleship, where they did a tight circle around the island and made a kill in the kelp on the north side of the island. The main group of whales then took a sharp turn towards McCracken point, while T46D headed east through Spieden Channel. He soon made a turn and headed for the main group as they headed towards Pearl Island, where they made yet another seal kill. While he did get closer to the other whales, he never fully joined in on the prey sharing while we observed him.

The whales milled for a few minutes, sharing and processing their prey, and then once again started moving east. The team left them as the passed the south side of Barren Island at 18:37.