2023 Encounters »

EncDate:17/12/23 

EncSeq:1

Enc#:75

ObservBegin:10:53 AM

ObservEnd:01:50 PM

Vessel:Mike 1

Other Vessel:

Staff:Mark Malleson

Other Observers:Joe Zelwietro

Pods: L Pod

LocationDescr:South west Constance Bank

Start Latitude:48 19.85

Start Longitude:123 24.59

End Latitude:48 13.54

End Longitude:123 42.39

EncSummary:

Mark and Joe were gearing up for a morning survey of the Juan de Fuca when they received a report of westbound killer whales off the Victoria waterfront. They picked up speed at Ogden Point just before 1100 and soon spotted a spread group of whales just southwest of Constance Bank. The whales travelled southwest, and fins could be seen for over a mile south and east, suggesting that Southern Residents were present! Sure enough, the nearest two animals surfaced to reveal themselves as L83 and L110. L115 was not far away, and all three were making their way southwest. As these animals disappeared on a dive, the guys began assessing the spread and spotted a few loosely associating pairs of whales to their southeast.
They manoeuvred Mike 1 toward those animals and confirmed the presence of L72 with L105, L91 with L122, L86 with L106, and L86’s youngster L125 nearby with L118. L118 was sporting a unique nick at the very tip of her dorsal fin, new since the last time they saw her in the summer. As the latter pair joined L86 and L106, all continuing southwest, Mark and Joe spotted a large bull on the horizon to the east and a few others beyond him. They idled that way to confirm the presence of L88! The 30-year-old bull travels with the L54 matriline. His adoptive brother L117 was nearby, and the two met up shortly thereafter. The nearby male-female pair were actually L55 and her son L109, though, and it wasn’t for another half hour that the guys were able to find L54 and L108, the remaining L54s. The L54s are not often with this subgroup of L pod, nor are they often observed in the inside waters of the Salish Sea. They spend the bulk of their time off the outer coast of BC and Washington and tend to associate more with the other part of the L pod – the L12s, L22 and L25 – who have followed a similar pattern in recent years.
The whales had been making good time with the strong ebb current and accelerated further as they got southeast of Race Rocks and angled west. Southwest of Race Rocks and south of East Sooke Park, the animals finally slowed and began exhibiting some foraging behaviour.
The team on Mike 1 departed the area just after 1330 and turned home, having documented all but one of the 22 theoretically present animals. L90 was the lone member of the subgroup not photographed, but given the large spread – approximately 3 square miles – it is likely that she was present somewhere within the group. L87 was not present today, nor was he present when CWR last encountered this subgroup of L pod in October (see Encounter #67). However, it seems likely that he has joined to the L12 / L22 / L25 subgroup for the time being, having been observed near them in late November by colleagues in the Canadian Gulf Islands. That group was not present today.

Photos taken under Federal Permits

NMFS PERMIT: 27038/ DFO SARA 388