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Whale Sighting Report  

In This Issue
Upcoming Events
Photo of the Day
Unknowns
Southern Resident orcas?
Transients/Bigg's killer whales
Coastal/Global orcas
Gray whales
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An intensely personal story...but this person is a young orca.  

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Orcas in Our Midst, volume 3, by Howard Garrett

Orcas in Our Midst,

Vol. 3: Residents and Transients, How Did That Happen?

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Death at SeaWorld, by David Kirby 

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February 9, 2014

We are watching and visiting the whales in their home~

Please observe, love and respect them from a distance.

Having trouble viewing this Sightings Report? Archived Reports can be found HERE.
The big news yesterday was the appearance of J pod (and fellow traveler L87) off Victoria, (as seen in the Photo of the Day) coming in toward Haro Strait. They were later heard on both the Lime Kiln and Orcasound hydrophones, but it wasn't clear which way they going. We had a tantalizing possible recognition of them on the Port Townsend hydrophone about 2 AM today, but no later reports, except for one dramatic report of about 30 orcas off Hornby Island at 10 AM. That seems too far north to have been J's, so the best guess is that those were an unusually large gathering of Transients/Bigg's whales. The Hornby Island orcas may in fact have been some of the same orcas that were videotaped (see below) in hot pursuit of white-sided dolphins near Nanaimo Monday around noon.

A couple of coastal reports from Northern California may have been some of K and/or L pods, but without precious photos we'll never know for sure.

This afternoon a couple of reports tell us there's a gray whale somewhere in Puget Sound tonight. 
Photo of the Day
J's and L87 east bound off of Victoria.
Photo by Mark Malleson, February 8, 2014.
Unknowns
February 9 
10 am - about 30 whales - south end of Hornby Isle , bottom end of Lamdert channel (40 miles NW of Nanaimo BC). At least 2 big males, maybe 5-6 little guys. whales were in small bunches, quite close together, lots of crisscrossing, sometimes submerged for extended time. Certainly no sea lions were in the water. They were all hauled out on Norris rocks. Maybe nearly a thousand sea lions. 3 days ago the 2 bulls were in front of my place - north shore of Hornby, facing the texada mine. I talked to Rob Zielinski of Hornby island diving who was out with clients today. He saw the orcas, he thought there were about 4 small ones, he thought they were transients.
George Stonehouse
Southern Resident orcas
February 9
1:54 am - Hearing faint calls on the Port Townsend hydrophone.
Ariel Yseth
Note: It's not completely certain that these were orca calls.

February 8
22:25 - Hear them on the north San Juan one now
Alan Passero

February 8
10:16 - Coming in a bit more clear on the other San Juan island hydrophone north of lk (Orcasound).
Ariel Yseth

February 8
10:05 - east coast, can hear some high-pitched sounds.
Kate Pielmeier

February 8
22:05 - hearing them back on Lime Kiln.
Alisa Lemire Brooks

February 8
9:42 - LOL did anyone just catch that call on OS? it sounded like they were calling out "helloOOOOooOOO" SO CUTE. I AM IN LOVE!
Jill M Rotset

February 8
9:38 - Can also faintly hear them on the other SJI hydrophone. Very high pitched calls.
9:27 - Can faintly hear them now.
Ariel Yseth

February 8
9:03 - Calls on the Lime Kiln hydro.
James Gresham

February 8
8:51 pm - Starting to hear J-pod on Lime Kiln! : )
Gayle Swigart

February 8
J's and L87 east bound off of Victoria.
Mark Malleson
Transients/Bigg's killer whales
February 9
11 AM - Five orcas were seen around 11:00am Sunday February 9, 2014, traveling East in the Strait of Juan De Fuca, between 1/4 and 1/2 km from the East Sooke shoreline at Beechy Head. One was a male; the other four appeared to be females and/or juveniles.
Lynette Browne

February 3

On Monday a group of Pacific white-sided dolphins was pursued and attacked by Bigg's whales near Nanaimo. A ferry passenger fortunately recorded the event and that video has spread far and wide, including in various news media. Below are two of the reports:

Attack by orcas scatter dolphins near Nanaimo.

Chris Dunagan: "At my suggestion, John sent photos to Ken Balcomb and Dave Ellifrit of the Center for Whale Research. Ken reported that the orcas included T-100s. According to the book "Transients" by John Ford and Graeme Ellis, they are a group of killer whales seen mainly in Southeast Alaska."

Killer whales hunt, attack dolphins near Nanaimo (with video)
An increase in transient killer whales and white-sided dolphins in the Strait of Georgia led to a rare sighting of an attack between the two mammals on Monday near Nanaimo.

February 2
About 11:45am - The location was between Pilot Point and Eglon, off the east side of the Kitsap Peninsula, south of Point No Point. The whales were traveling north. There appeared to be about 4 of them, but I doubt I photographed all of them. One surfaced just after the main group passed us, and I had already put my camera away.  After passing us, the whales went down and we didn't see them surface again. It's pretty special to see (and hear!) orcas so close!
Dianne Edmonds
Between Pilot Point and Eglon.
Photo by Dianne Edmonds, February 2, 2014.
Photo by Dianne Edmonds, February 2, 2014.
Photo by Dianne Edmonds, February 2, 2014.
Photo by Dianne Edmonds, February 2, 2014.

Correction: Correcting one of my own sightings posted in the Feb. 3 report , T086's were NOT with T087. Alisa Lemire Brooks
Coastal/Global orcas
February 5
Naked Whale Research reports a sighting from 5 miles south of Pt. Arena, CA, 7:52a.m. Pod approximately 6 - 8 orca, 2 miles west from buoy - feeding pattern - heading north.
And a pod of approximately 3 - 5 orca, .5 mile in front of buoy - travel pattern. heading south. Photos were taken but not close enough to ID. These were: "Two groups of animals; same time, same location."

February 4
Orca Network got a call from Don Taylor from his boat out 13.5 miles from the beach about 9 miles north the CA border, where he saw 4 or 5 orcas. No direction of travel. Sea lions were nearby but didn't seem to be bothered. No photos.
Gray whales
February 9
My family sent me this photo taken this afternoon of the Gray whale spotted from Edmonds. Apparently it breached "ten times."
Photo submitted by Whitney Neugebauer, Whale Scouts, February 9, 2014.

 

February 9

2:48 - We have a grey whale sightings...between Edmonds and Kayu Kayu park in Shoreline, heading south.
Janine Harles  

ABOUT ORCA NETWORK  
Orca Network is a 501 c3 nonprofit organization, dedicated to raising awareness about the whales of the Pacific Northwest, and the importance of providing them healthy and safe habitats.

Orca Network's Whale Sighting Network involves citizens in helping researchers track the movement of whales, and encourages people to observe whales from their homes, businesses, ferries, and beaches.
Whale reports are sent in to our Sighting Network and emailed out to researchers, agencies, and citizens on our network, and posted on our website (MAP of sightings also on website). Whale reports and observations are sent in by a variety of sources, and Orca Network does not guarantee the accuracy of any report or whale identification.

 

TO REPORT WHALES, CALL: 1-866-ORCANET (1-866-672-2638), email [email protected], or post sightings on our Orca Network Facebook page.

 

*BE WHALE WISE! BOATERS - NEW FEDERAL REGULATIONS IN EFFECT AS OF MAY 16, 2011:

 "The new rules prohibit vessels from approaching any killer whale closer than 200 yards and forbid vessels from intercepting a whale or positioning the vessel in its path. This doubles the current approach distance of 100 yards. The rules go into effect May 16 and apply to all types of boats, including motor boats, sail boats and kayaks, in Washington"

 

For more information on the new Federal Regulations, visit the NOAA Fisheries website

 

 
To report harassment of whales in US waters
, call NOAA Enforcement: 1-800-853-1964;

In Canadian waters, call DFO's Observe Record and Report (ORR) Violations Hotline: 1-800- 465-4336

Report the boat name &/or a description of the boat, & get photos if at all possible.