EncDate:23/09/23 

EncSeq:59

Enc#:3

ObservBegin:04:44 PM

ObservEnd:05:26 PM

Vessel:Mike 1

Staff:Mark Malleson

Pods:Transients

IDsEncountered:T109A's

LocationDescr:Victoria's inner harbor

Start Latitude:48 25.83

Start Longitude:123 22.36

End Latitude:48 24.80

End Longitude:123 23.67

 

EncSummary:

A few of the commercial whale watch boats confirmed that it indeed was the T109As at the entrance to Victoria Harbour but lost track of them after a long dive (See Encounter 58). 
They were last seen pointed towards the inner harbour, and nobody had seen them exit, so it was thought that they had gone under the Johnson Street Bridge and into the Gorge. 

*note- On June 7, 2018, the T049A's were the first group of Bigg's ever documented going under the bridge. 

Sure enough, the T109A's did the same, but this time, they were located all the way to the Bay Street bridge! 
Mike 1 started the encounter at 1644 as Mark went under the Johnston Street bridge and saw the T109A's prey sharing near the gravel yard at Bay Street. Numerous gulls hovered over them as they finished their seal snack.
The group of seven then swam back underneath the Johnson Street bridge, and once they made it to the Harbor Air seaplane dock, they stormed underneath the dock after another seal. After several minutes of chasing it inside the seaplane dock next to the terminal, they chased it back under the dock to the outside and eventually caught it. The entire group was logging at the surface after carrying it within view of the large crowd of onlookers standing in awe along the inner harbour causeway by the Steam Ship Terminal. They dove for several minutes while they tore apart their prize as a slick formed, and the gulls reappeared, hovering above them with hopes of some crumbs left behind. The whales then exited the harbour with a few surfacing as they passed the lineup of onlookers at Laurel Point, went into a long dive and made it past the fuel dock to the edge of the outer harbour before surfacing for the next breath cycle. They skulked along tight to the shoreline on the east side of the harbour past the cruise ship terminal and surprised the walkers taking in the view at the end of Ogden Point breakwater surfacing in the kelp below their feet.
Mike 1 ended the encounter here at 1726 as the whales appeared to head west after a moment of indecision.