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Oh, just more flying whales. Great morning with Bigg's (transient) killer whales in President Channel. Photo by Katie Jones.

12:55pm - Orcas spotted between Sucia and Orcas Island right now.
Karlynn Elliott

Heading west from Victoria, we caught up with the T18's, a charismatic group of 4 transient orca, easily recognizable because of T19B. He's about 19 years old, and hasn't quite grown into his fin, to the point where it leans dramatically over to one side. Meanwhile in Vancouver, they were looking at different transients! They found a huge group consisting of at least 20 whales. Likely the T36A's, T37A's, T65A's, plus another unidentified group. In the afternoon the T18's were too far west to check out, and the big group of transients split in to more normal sized groups and headed our way. We caught up with them in San Juan Channel.
Jennifer Dickson, Prince of Whales Whale Watch

Here is T90 breaching. These transient killer whales .... the last two days have been fantastic. Photo by Tasli Shaw.

4:20 pm - Unknown number of orcas at Point No Point. Heading south.
Patty Michak

A caller reported a single orca traveling south past Lagoon Point at 9:07 am today.

9:30 am - Unidentified whale headed south seen from Lagoon Point.
Patricia Prochaska

Biggs killer whales near Java Rocks (Canadian Gulf Islands). Isn't little T065A5 cute? Terri Mitchell captioned this "Surrounded by love". Photo by Jill Hein.

A Transient/Bigg's orca near Pender Island holds an adult harbor porpoise, an act seldom photographed. Photo by Sina Drewermann.

Some transient orcas around Pender Island. These were the T65's, T36's and T124's. They were using teamwork to hunt the porpoises and managed to make 2 kills! Afterwards, they put on quite a show for our passengers as they celebrated their accomplishment.
Alanna Brennan, Prince of Whales Whale Watch

We have lived in Washington for just a year and a half and I saw my very first siting today! 4 orcas swimming just a mile or so south of the Clinton Ferry on Whidbey Island. They were heading south.
Rhonda Collette

T041A2 has survived that first critical year so its safe to designate it with the name Tree after Tree Island where it was likely born. Next step is to get an image of the calf breaching and showing it's belly so we can see if if it's a he/she. Her mom T041A is easily distinguished by her 2 notches but not to be confused with the similar fin to Wakana (T011). The mom and calf were alone when John was with them and we don't know if she returned to her matrilineal gang and if she didn't then she will likely be with another gang as she would be challenged to provide food if she just travelled on her own. If they are spotted, It would be great to get images to us right away. - Rod Palm, Strawberry Isle Marine Research Station, Tofino BC. Photo by Howard Tom.

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.