EncDate:13/11/23 

EncSeq:1

Enc#:70

ObservBegin:11:53 AM

ObservEnd:04:10 PM

Staff:Dave Ellifrit

Pods:Transients

IDsEncountered:T49As (minus T49A2), the T68Cs (minus T68C1), and the T18s

LocationDescr:Haro Strait and lower Boundary Pass

Start Latitude:48 31.50

Start Longitude:123 16.00

End Latitude:48 42.00

End Longitude:123 14,50

 

EncSummary:

Dave received a text from Mark saying that he was with a nice group of Bigg’s killer whales that included the T49As with some others a few miles south of Kelp Reef and heading in that direction. It was a nice day so Dave loaded up, drove to Snug Harbor, and left in the boat at 1135. Mark reported the other matriline as being the T68Cs - a group that is not overly common in the area. Mark had to leave before Dave got there but Dave spotted the whales about where Mark thought they would be about a half mile to the southwest of Kelp Reef at 1150. The encounter began at 1153.

The T49As (minus T49A2) and the T68Cs (minus T68C1) were in a tight group and were pointed right at Kelp Reef. They passed the reef and then turned northwest up Haro Strait. Dave was able to get some left side shots. Around 1215, the whales went on a long dive and finally came up a little further to the east in the middle of a chase of some kind. What they were after was never seen but the whales were stretched out north to south and porpoising north with most of the T49As in the lead and most of the T68Cs trailing. The attack was either successful or they gave up pretty quickly and there was some milling around as the T49As came back to the T68Cs. All the whales grouped up again and turned west toward D’Arcy Island which made for an opportunity to get better left sides. Around 1240, the whales began porpoising up Haro Strait. Against his better judgement, Dave decided to end the encounter there because he thought he had things to get done. Transients porpoising for several miles often means that they hear other whales in the middle of a kill. However, Dave was sure that if he had stayed, the whales would have kept porpoising until they passed Nanaimo. While heading into Snug Harbor, Dave passed the Cogan’s “Morning Star” on their way out. Dave was back at CWR downloading photos when he received a text from Jane Cogan saying that, sure enough, the T49As and the T68Cs had joined the T18s who were in the process of attacking a minke whale near Turn Point. He decided to head out again despite little hope of getting there in time to see the attack, leaving Snug for the second time that day at 1405 and arriving back on scene around 1430.  

The minke was already dead by then and the whales were feeding on the carcass, which was not visible, about a half mile north of the Turn Point lighthouse. A blubber slick could be seen and smelled. The T18s, T49As, and T68Cs (fourteen whales total) were milling and feeding like Ts normally do on a large carcass. Small groups and individuals would surface milling before going on a long dive to feed on the sunken carcass. When some whales went on a long dive, others who had been down feeding would surface to breath. They had killed the minke in one of the deepest parts of the San Juans so they may have had to dive fairly deep to feed. Some individuals or pairs would occasionally move off to about a quarter mile away from the spot before drifting back to the slick area. At about 1515, a large humpback whale showed up from the south and charged right into the middle of the feeding Ts. It seemed to be trying to disrupt the feeding event, almost chasing the Ts around and blowing energetically (if not quite full blown trumpeting). At no point did it look like the Bigg’s were harassing the humpback or even overly concerned about its presence. As the sun sank closer to the horizon, T49A1 and maybe one or two others had drifted away the area but the other Ts continued to feed and the humpback continued its attempts to annoy them. Dave ended the encounter (again) at 1610 with the Ts still feeding and the humpback still amongst them.  

The humpback disturbing the peace was later identified by Joe Z. and Mark as BCX1377 or “Nike”. Melisa Pinnow, who was aboard “Morning Star” with the Cogans during the attack, identified the minke as “Clone”, an ailing whale known to whale watchers. Melisa reported that “Clone” had been hanging out in the Minke Lake area for the past couple of months with a deteriorating body condition. The SR3 drone team had reported that they had seen the T18s in the Wasp Islands earlier that morning.

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