Support Orca Network - Webshop & Membership

Central Puget Sound Marine Mammal Stranding Network

Related Resources  & Links

NEW Federal
Orca - Vessel Law

Be Whale Wise

WA State Vessel Law

Whales and Dolphins BC

May 15

T139. Photo by Katie Jones, May 15, 2014

We had a bit of an exciting occurrence here in the islands - we encountered three transient orcas that have possibly not been seen in our neck of the woods before - T139, T141 and her calf. They were traveling with the T18 group (which is frequently sighted here). T139 is estimated to have been born in 1978 and T141 in 1985. According to the "Transients" book by Ford and Ellis: "This group, encountered on only a few occasions in British Columbia, is very poorly known." Of course this book was written quite a number of year ago, but still enchanted to encounter some exotic transients.
Katie Jones

T139, T141, and a small juvenile that was not T141A (maybe T141B-I'll check with Jared) that were with T18 and the T19s today in Haro Strait and Boundary Pass.  This was their first visit to this area to my knowledge.  
Dave Ellifrit

New Bigg's Killer Whales Visit the Salish Sea. Photo by Simon Pidcock, May 15, 2014.

Photo by Simon Pidcock, May 15, 2014.

Photo by Simon Pidcock, May 15, 2014.

Today we had some new Bigg's Killer Whales visit the Salish Sea. We got to spend some time with them in Haro Strait. There were seven animals traveling together spread out over a few miles. One of the families were the T018's who we see fairly regularly in our waters. The other three whales traveling with the T018's were T140, T141 and I believe T141B. This is the first time I have seen these whales and apparently this is the first time they have been recorded in the Salish Sea. They tend to spend their time on the Central Coast. Beautiful morning on the water. **Please note all of our images are cropped and taken with a telephoto lens**
Simon Pidcock, Ocean EcoVentures Whale Watching - Cowichan Bay

1:47 pm - T097 and T093 off Constance Bank. I got the report of them off Constance Bank traveling NE towards Trial Island off Victoria BC.
Josh McInnes

Transients in Dungeness Bay. Lat/Long: 48.177305/-123.106613. I'm a volunteer lighthouse keeper at the New Dungeness Lighthouse on the spit at Sequim. There are several orcas in the bay, unfortunately being harassed by a sailboat who is chasing the pod around the bay as they try to feed on the abundant seal population here. I'm having trouble getting a clear count, with the sailboat constantly breaking up the pod, but there appears to be at least 4 adults and one youngster. Initially they were feeding with some playing (tail lobs, juvenile spy-hopping). Once the boat began harassing them, they seemed to primarily be trying to avoid the boat, essentially until the boat chased them out of the bay.
Sarah Miller

Mark Lee called in a report of 5-6 orcas, including one juvenile, heading NE at 9:30 am near Bachelor Rock off Port Angeles, just 50 yards from the bluff.

Pretty special afternoon on the water: one boat, one whale -  T124C, and stunning sea conditions in south Georgia Strait. Photo by Monika Weiland, May 11, 2014.

Photo by Gary Sutton, May 11, 2014.

Saddle underwater. Photo by Gary Sutton, May 11, 2014.

Transient Killer Whale TO65A with her approximately 3 month old calf, TO65A5 up in Active Pass BC on Saturday. Happy Mother's Day to all the moms at sea and ashore. Photo by James Gresham, May 11, 2014.

Just left T65s, 6 of them, heading south in Swanson Channel. Followed them just outside Active Pass! Saw the baby, too.
Vickie Doyle

Following reports of transient orcas near Active Pass, Matt joined the 5 transient orcas on the East side of Salt Spring Island and followed the "playful" group as they travelled towards Moresby Island.
Prince of Whales Whale Watching

T65A with her new calf T65A5. Photo by Gary Sutton, May 10, 2014.

Lookit that face! There was another whale coming up behind this one (who I thiiiink is 65A3), hence the peering. Photo by Andy Scheffler, May 10, 2014.

T65A5 and his family! Photo by Andy Scheffler, May 10, 2014.

Bret Greenheck of Yaquina Head Park, Oregon, reported seeing two adult male orcas around 5 pm May 15, approx. .5 mile from shore off the headland, milling around Seal Rock for several minutes, then heading west around the headlands. He went to a higher viewpoint to try to find their direction of travel but could not re-locate them.
Susan

Stan Crupen - sport fisherman, called to say he saw about 6 orcas, including two adult males, in water 350' deep just off Bodega Bay CA.

1:00PM - West Coast Catch Shares Ground Fish fishery observer spotted a pod of killer whales circling the vessel at 40° 28.27 N, 124° 34.72 W (north of Cape Mendocino CA). The pod appeared to be comprised of 3-4 females and one large male. After an hour of the whales circling the vessel they continued North. Approximately 1-2 miles away the whales were observed extensively breaching. -M. Winscher
Alisa Shulman-Janiger has ID'd the male as CA94, Transient-type mammal-eater, never associated with other known transients. This is only his THIRD sighting! The first was in 1990 - off of Santa Catalina Island!
Naked Whale Research
This is an amazing sighting of a very distinctive male! He was with two very distinctive females (as well as several juveniles) during his previous two sightings. I did not see those females in any of the images that JC sent to me. One female suffered some sort of injury between 1990 and 2008, and lost over half of her dorsal fin!
Alisa Shulman-Janiger

3 orcas reported traveling north at 38.23.967N 123.15.637W (Northern California), at 4:15 PM, by Eric Burke.

7:15 PM - Orca Pod near Depoe Bay Oregon. I saw a pod of Orca near the first buoy in Depoe Bay. They were spyhopping, breaching and feeding on a bait ball. There were approximately 5 Orca with one large male. Photo by Brent McWhirter, may 13, 2014.

TWO orcas - TILLAMOOK BAY OR - PAST PIRATES COVE SOMEWHERE INTO THE MAIN BAY, going in at about 1000 and then out about 1130 PDT (during last part of flood tide) ONE MALE ONE FEMALE I THINK.
Steve Wasnock

8:00 AM - Sighting near newport OR. 4 or 5 Orcas just before red buoys outside of newport Yaquina Bay. Traveling south. Dave Ellifrit: L85 and L25 are there! Photo by Tamara Conklin, May 10, 2014.

Heather Mann called in a report about seeing 6-12 orcas 33 nm west of Spencer Creek OR, at 44 43 39N x 124 08 03W to 44 44 09N x 124 08 03W (between Newport and Lincoln City).

7:10 am - Marie Waterman of WA State Ferries called to relay a report from a ferry captain of two gray whales heading south in Rosario Strait.

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 info@orcanetwork.org, 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.