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EncDate:24/07/24 

EncSeq:1

Enc#:74

ObservBegin:03:19 PM

ObservEnd:06:06 PM

Vessel:KCB III

Staff:Dave Ellifrit, Michael Weiss

Other Observers:Rachel John, Arlene Vargas, Alondra Caro Ruiz

Pods:J

LocationDescr:Boundary Pass and northern Haro Strait

Start Latitude:48 44.76

Start Longitude:123 05.96

End Latitude:48 41.03

End Longitude:123 14.37

EncSummary:

The team was working in the office when we received word that J pod had been found up near East Point. We gathered our gear, headed down to Snug Harbor, and left on KCB3 at 1453. We arrived on scene about mid-Boundary Pass off Monarch Head at 1519. J pod was spread out in singles and small groups while heading slowly southwest down Boundary Pass. J26 and few other spread-out whales got by us and the first group we got on was the J22s with J37 and J59 traveling together. Since we were on the US side of the border, we got the drone up for the first of several flights throughout the encounter. J39 and J49 were traveling together a couple hundred yards behind the J22s and the rest of the J37s. J31, J40, J42, J45, J46, J53, and J56 showed up and all three groups merged into one strung out and loosely spread group. The whales appeared to be social as they headed southwest towards Stuart Island. J27 was trailing this group by a couple hundred yards. We moved away from the whales as they approached Stuart Island and the whales turned west as they hit the Stuart Island shoreline. This large loosely spread group began rounding Turn Point around 1710. J27 caught up to them but took a more offshore route and was west of the others as everyone turned south.

The large group spread out some when south of Turn Point and there was a lot of breaching and splashing out of various individuals. J39 belly-flopped three times in a row. We found a tight and active group of four about a half mile southwest of Turn Point. This group included J44, J46, J53, and J53 and they were very playful and tactile. They milled and rolled south while another active group was a quarter mile east of them. This other group was the J22s along with J45, J49, and J59. J22 moved on ahead of the others but J38, J45, J49, and J59 continued to social travel together as they headed south down Haro Strait. We ended the encounter at 1806 about a half mile southeast of Turn Point.