EncDate:28/01/24 

FolderID:20240128MLM_JF1

EncSeq:1

Enc#:09

ObservBegin:01:36 PM

ObservEnd:03:13 PM

Vessel:Mike 1

Staff:Mark Malleson

Other Observers:Duncan Stamper, Steve Isbister

Pods:Bigg's killer whales

LocationDescr:Oak Bay Flats

Start Latitude:48 23.18

Start Longitude:123 18.41

End Latitude:48 24.59

End Longitude:123 08.36

 

EncSummary:

Mark met with his sailing crew in the morning and after seeing the socked in fog in Oak Bay and no wind he easily convinced them to bail on racing and instead go for breakfast before heading out on Mike 1 for a whale search in the Juan de Fuca. The web cameras showed that it was clear south of Sooke so they were hopeful that it would clear up just west of Race Rocks.
They departed Victoria harbour at 1110 and headed for Race Pass. Mark kept a vigilant eye on the radar for boats and dodged the endless debris that has been around with the big tides and winter storms clearing the beaches.
They busted out of the fog slightly west of Race Pass when they reached Church Rock and had a ~1.5 nm swath of clear visibility from the shoreline of Vancouver Island to offshore as far as Sooke. With no sightings by the time they reached the western edge of the fog bank near Otter Point they worked their way back to the east. With a report that the the fog had cleared east of Race Rocks they figured they would cross Victoria's waterfront to search that area which was previously shrouded in fog.
As they approached Race Pass Mark received a report from his friend and colleague, Gary Neumann, that he spotted a group of ~ 10 spread out killer whales east bound near Clover Point with 1 large bull.  
At 1336 as Mike 1 was approaching the south end of Trial Island they spotted a pair of east bound dorsal fins. Mark immediately concluded they were Bigg's from the shape of the dorsal fins and was soon able to confirm 117B along with her first calf born in 2023, T117B1. They were traveling close to 8 knots and seemed to be the trailing animals as they spotted another individual to the east which turned out to be six year old T030B2 also racing along towards Discovery Island.
As the Mike 1 crew was working their way towards another pair of animals they saw well ahead they saw a splash amongst a group of murres which Mark figured was the start of a hunt. Sure enough, T117B and her calf joined up with T030B2 and it appeared the matriarch, T117B had nabbed a likely seal amongst the feeding birds. The three of them milled around and did an inquisitive pass by Mike 1 and Mark could see prey remains in T117B's mouth.  
They then continued east to relocate the pair of animals that they had seen previously ahead of the trailing group and soon came across T030B with a brand new calf!  
Scanning all over with hopes to locate the bull that Gary had earlier seen from shore they spotted one other individual, eleven year old T030B1, who soon joined its mom, T030B and new sibling T030B3.
Mark later contacted George Hamilton who was out on his fish boat closer to Discovery Island and told him to keep an eye out for a reported bull and any others. Mark figured that the bull was to the north of the group from Gary's shore based sighting info earlier. 
George finally got a lock on the bull close to the Seabird Point, Discovery Island which was ~ 2 nm north west of the lead T030Bs.  
As Mike 1 approached Seabird Point where he could see George's vessel standing by, Mark spotted what looked like a sprouter male along with a couple of others within a half mile to the north of his position. George never saw those individuals and the Mike 1 crew never saw them again either but were able to relocate the single bull which was confirmed as the 31 year old, T117A.  
Mark had encountered T117A along with T172 while guiding a commercial whale watch trip near Race Rocks on January 10th. T172 typically associates with the 117s and often with the 030Bs so was likely nearby but with the huge spread and long dives she was never spotted. As far as the possible sprouter bull and other two individuals that Mark had seen in the distance either it also seemed likely that there was another matriline in the area.
T117A was following the eastern track line of the lead animals but well separated and moving much slower. He appeared content to be independent as the Mike 1 crew watched him successfully singlehandedly grab a likely seal ~ 4 nm south east of Discovery Island at the western edge of Middle Bank. 
After several minutes of scanning while T117A digested his catch and with no sign of the other animals Mike 1 ended the encounter at 1513.

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