EncDate:07/09/24 

EncSeq:1

Enc#:87

ObservBegin:10:33 AM

ObservEnd:11:38 PM

Vessel:Mike 1

Staff:Mark Malleson

Other Observers:

Pods:Bigg's killer whales

LocationDescr:Trincomali Channel

Start Latitude:48 52.20

Start Longitude:123 26.15

End Latitude:48 55.44

End Longitude:123 30.07

 

EncSummary:

Mark departed Whaler Bay on Galiano Island aboard Mike 1 at 0920 to follow up on a report of killer whales seen heading south past Mary Anne Point in Active Pass at 0815. Upon arriving at the west entrance of Active Pass, he paused for a binocular scan to check if the whales were still visible. Given the elapsed time, they could have moved south into Swanson Channel or northwest into Trincomali Channel. Enough time had passed that the whales were likely out of his view either way, and the ebb tide would have further helped their progress if they’d opted to move south. 

Mark decided to approach a sport fisher off Collinson Point to inquire if they had seen the whales exit the pass and if they could confirm their direction of travel. The first boat he asked reported seeing the whales heading south towards Portlock Point on Prevost Island just 20 minutes earlier. This information was promising, but once he reached Portlock Point several minutes later and stopped for a scan, the whales were still nowhere to be found. Mark was baffled that he wasn't seeing them; given the recent report and ideal conditions, he began questioning the fisherman's information. 

Just as he was preparing to retrace his route towards Trincomali Channel, another sport fisher who had also been at Collinson Point and overheard Mark asking about killer whales slowed down as they approached Mike 1. Mark approached them for more details, and they informed him that they had seen the whales loop up Trincomali Channel. Mark then proceeded up Trincomali Channel, favouring the northern side, moving slowly and stopping for frequent scans. During his third scan, he heard faint blows to the west but couldn't immediately spot any dorsal fins. He continued toward where he'd heard the blows and eventually stopped a mile to the west. He began to hear the blows again, this time more clearly, and after a quick scan, he finally locked on to the whales! 

There appeared to be three or four killer whales spread out, and it took over 20 minutes before Mark managed to get a photograph of one as they were extremely cryptic - quite possibly the most cryptic whales of the year! The whales would surface 2 or 3 times before disappearing for ~6 minutes. Mark eventually confirmed that he had T023 and a group of three within a half mile, which included her daughter, T023D, and grandkids, T023D4 and T023D5. 

After an hour of starting the encounter, the group of four whales was tight together on the Galiano side of the channel. There was still no sign of the sprouter, T023D3, so Mark decided to end the encounter slightly east of Wallace Island and head towards Porlier Pass in case he was ahead of the group. He also wanted to have a scan for other animals in the Strait of Georgia, as there was an earlier shore-based report of additional animals heading northwest on the north side of Galiano. Mark later received a report on his return from Porlier Pass that T023D3 had appeared along the Saltspring side of Trincomali Channel and managed to photograph him at the west end of Wallace Island.