EncDate:27/08/24 

Enc#:82

ObservBegin:03:00 PM

ObservEnd:04:03 PM

Vessel:KCB III

Staff:Dave Ellifrit, Michael Weiss

Other Observers:Charli Grimes, Arlene Vargas, Alondra Caro Ruiz

Pods:Bigg's killer whales

LocationDescr:Barnes and Clark Islands

Start Latitude:48 41.64

Start Longitude:122 48.60

End Latitude:48 43.14

End Longitude:122 45.60

 

EncSummary:

The team was working in the office when we decided to go out on a big group of Bigg’s near Lawrence Point on Orcas Island. The T18s, T36s, T49As, and T137s were reported to be in the area. T65A5 was also reported to be there. We headed down to Snug Harbor and left in KCB3 at 1340. After a stop at the Roche Harbor fuel dock, we headed through the middle of the San Juan Islands and up Rosario Strait. The whales had turned and were heading quickly northwest along the north shore of Orcas Island when we arrived on scene at 1500. The whales had split into two groups, and we went around the scene to the lead group of whales. The rear group of the T18s and T49As turned back southeast toward Point Lawrence while we stayed with the lead group. The T18s and T49As were not encountered.  
The T36s and T137s were moving quickly along the Orcas shoreline, and we quickly got the drone up over them. During a long dive, the whales turned north towards Barnes Island. The whales were in two tight groups, loosely spread and paralleling one another. The group that was about fifty yards to the west of the other included the T36Bs and T137D while the other group had the rest of the T137s, T36 herself, and T65A5. T36B3 was not present. The western group became the lead group by about the same margin as the whales headed north a little off Barnes Island’s west shoreline. At 1533, members of the lead group briefly began speed swimming at the surface as they rounded the north tip of Barnes Island. That group went into obvious hunting mode in between the north ends of Barnes and Clark Islands. The rear group gave us a close pass as they headed north past us and then turned northeast over the tops of both Barnes and Clark Islands. This group milled briefly before continuing northeast toward mid-channel and that was the last we saw of those whales. The T36Bs and T137D came out from in between the two islands and rounded the north tip. After a long dive, they showed up spread out and milling near the southeast tip of Clark Island. These whales soon grouped up again before they began heading north. We had the drone up over them and the whales had made a seal kill that they were carrying around with them. They began a brief bout of porpoising with a couple of the animals coming completely out of the water. They then slowed down a bit but were still swimming quickly north-northeast towards where we last saw the other group heading. We ended the encounter at 1603 about three quarters of a mile northeast of Clark Island.