Shortly after I arrivied at the Five Star office this morning Ron Bates, of the Marine Mammal Research Group, called to tell us there were calls on the OrcaSound hydrophone at Lime Kiln Park on the west side of San Juan Island. When we tuned in we were treated to transient 'mammal eating' killer whale vocalizations; a killer whale ecotype not so commonly heard on the hydrophones as they are usually silent hunters. The vocalisations continued for over half an hour and it looked good for sightings potential for the afternoon trip. Unfortunately, we weren't sure if we'd get to see this group of whales because we had very few passengers booked.
After hearing the calls we got a report that a vessel was with them and other vessels were heading to the scene. Just one hour before the trip it was still looking doubtful we would get out when, fortunately, just half an hour before departure time, more passengers decided to come whale watching! Our small group headed to the Fastcat in the Victoria Harbour and shortly after 1300 we were on our way out of the harbour to watch some Transient killer whales.
T30A a male Transient killer whale in the T30 group
T30s and T49As with Victoria in the background
Once again, shortly after departure, it looked like we would miss seeing the Transients because whale watching vessels who were already on the water lost track of them. We headed east from Victoria, towards San Juan Island, in response to more reports that the whales were still being heard on the Lime Kiln hydrophone. We coordinated with the other whale watch vessels and shortly after we arrived in the south end of Haro Strait, near San Juan Island, we received information that some boats were with the whales south of Victoria. These whales were acoustically detected even though they were over 15 miles away from the hydrophone at Lime Kiln lighthouse on San Juan! We quickly turned in the right direction and 25 minutes later we arrived on scene...and it was definitely worth the travel time!
Members of the T30s and T49As with Victoria in the background
When we arrived we saw two transient 'groups', or Transient killer whale matrilineal families, slowly travelling northbound toward the Victoria shoreline. It was the T30 and T49A groups which included about 8 animals! We watched them for about half an hour and as they travelled slowly they did the occasional tail lob and dorsal fin slap. It was a beautiful sighting and memories of the previous days of rain and cold were soon gone from our minds as we watched the whales under sunny, blue skies and flat calm waters!
T30A with Victoria in the background
Members of the T30s and T49As travelling slowly heading towards the Victoria coastline
T30A with Victoria in the background
Members of the T30s and T49As travelling slowly near the Victoria
We were very lucky to enjoy a great sighting of the two whale groups so decided to leave them and head to the Chain Islands, of Oak Bay in Victoria, and look for seals and seabirds. Upon arrival to the islands we saw harbour seals, Harlequin ducks and double crested cormorants. We were enjoying the peace and animals of the Chain Islands when suddenly one of our passengers asked "what is that black thing?!"; when Ron and Captain Trev took a look they saw a single male Transient killer whale, T14, snooping along the rocks on the other side of the small island!
Double Crested cormorants taking flight at the Chain Islands
What an unexpected surprise! T14 is commonly seen in these waters but we didn't expect to see him in addition to the other two groups of Transients. It is likely he already spent some time with the two groups but continued on to forage independently, something not uncommon for mature male transient killer whales to do. T14 has been seen in these waters for years...in March 1976 he was live captured, along with the female T13 who was likely his mother, near the head of Puget Sound.
T14 travelling in Haro Strait
This capture event of T13 and T14 was one of many of the live captures for aquaria that occurred during the 60s and 70s in these waters; but in March 1967 these two whales were kept for a different reason. They were fitted with radio packs to carry VHF tags to track the whales after they were released. These were surgically attached to the leading edge of their dorsal fins using five stainless steel surgical pins. The two whales were released seven weeks after their initial capture and were tracked continuously for ten days and then periodically over the following five months.
Three years later the two whales were seen and they had both lost their radio packs. The surgical pins remained in the fins and to this day the built up scar tissue is still visible on T14 who outlived T13. (Source: Ford and Ellis, 1999, Transients: Mammal Hunting Killer Whales of British Columbia, Washington, and Southeastern Alaska).
T14 travelling in Haro Strait
Between 1500 to 1530 we watched T14 travel through Baynes Channel, past Ten Mile Point and enter Haro Strait where we left him travelling north up Haro Strait. After our sighting the Center for Whale Research staff, off the west side of San Juan Island, spotted him at Kelp Reef, further north in Haro Strait, later that evening.
T14 heading out of Baynes Channel into Haro Strait
After the wonderful sighting of T14 it was time to head back to the Victoria. We arrived in the harbour just around 1600 with big smiles on our faces (and maybe a little more colour from the SUNSHINE!) and new memories of the sighting of the T30s, T49As, harbour seals, cormorants, and T14!
The last looks at T14 as he headed north up Haro Strait
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