MAY 31, 2009 AFTERNOON T12A travelling west with T109A and T109A2 near Race Rocks!

We departed the dock this sunny afternoon at 1400 on Five Star Charter's Supercat and headed out of the harbour to a group of the 'Transient' mammal eating killer whales (Orcinus orca) travelling through the Strait of Juan De Fuca. We caught up with them near Race Rocks Marine Protected Area travelling west. We had a great look at the group of 3 killer whales from two matrilines: T12A a 27 year old mature male killer whale and T109A a female with T109A2 who is her second known offspring (Department of Fisheries and Oceans PDF catalogue of Transient killer whales of BC).

Just before departing I spotted Great Pacific Adventures zodiac driver Jimmy Z modelling the best in whale watch boat driver fashion

T12A, 27 year old, 'Transient' mammal eating killer whale travelling in the Strait of Juan De Fuca

T109A2 'Transient' mammal eating juvenile killer whale

T109A and her offspring T109A2 (her 2nd calf) travelling with T12A in the Strait of Juan De Fuca

Adult male 'Transient' killer whale T12A travelling with T109A2

T12A

T109A and T109A2

T12A from behind

T12A travelling in the Strait of Juan De Fuca with the Olympic Mountains, WA in the background

Commercial fishing boat in the Strait of Juan De Fuca with Mount Baker in the background

T12A

Ideal photo-ID photo of T12A, angle shows shape of fin and scratches on saddle patch which can be used to identify individual killer whales

T12A and T109A

After watching the Transients for just under an hour we left them still travelling westbound just west of Race Rocks at around 1545. We headed back towards the Victoria harbour making one more stop to see if we could spot the bald eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) in their nest near Albert Head...and we did get a nice look at one of the adults sitting in a tree close to the nest!

Bald Eagle nest near Albert Head

Mature adult bald eagle

MAY 31, 2009 MORNING Many Transient killer whales in the Strait of Juan De Fuca!

We had a very interesting group of whale watchers for Five Star Charter's 1000 whale watch cruise...a group of women and men affiliated with the Imperial Order of the Daughters of the Empire. This great organization's mission, as a Canadian women's charitable organization is to improve the quality of life for children, youth and those in need through educational, social servic and citizenship programs...a very important group indeed.

They were a very enthusiastic group and taught me some interesting stuff too. As part of their convention in Victoria they learned about seahorse research through talks they given by two UBC PhD students they provided support to. These students did their work under the organization Project Seahorse. This group is an international team of biologists, development specialists, and other professionals committed to conserving and managing seahorses, their relatives and habitats, while respecting human needs. Sounds like an awesome group to keep an eye on!

Fortunately, the group's good deeds must have brought them good whale karma because we ended up going into the Strait of Juan De Fuca and there was a big group of 'Transient' mammal eating killer whales (Orcinus orca)! There were two groups the first of which was a huge, a group of approximately 20 animals!, milling near Hein Bank. They were hunting and we identified the members of the T100s, T101s, T30s, T124s and T90s.

Awesome group of Transient 'mammal eating' killer whales in the Strait of Juan De Fuca

Members of the T100 and T101 Transient killer whale groups travelling together in the Strait of Juan De Fuca

After watching the first group for a while we departed to head to another group of transients we could see further west of us with some other whale watching boats. This was a much smaller group of animals and included the male T12A travelling with T109A and T109A2. The three animals were travelling west away from the larger group. We also saw, Ken Balcomb and Emma Foster, staff members from the Center For Whale Research conducting photo-ID research on this smaller group of animals. Ken is the director of the Center and has been studying these pods for over 30 years and Emma is currently a PhD student at the University of Leeds looking at the social structure over time of the Southern Resident community.

Center For Whale Research staff Ken Balcomb and Emma Foster doing photo ID of the Transient 'mammal eating' killer whales T12A travelling with T109A and T109A2

T12A, 27 year old male

T109A, T12A and T109A2 (T109As second offspring) Transients travelling west in the Strait of Juan De Fuca

T12A and T109A travelling

T12A, T109A and T109A2

T12A travelling in the Strait of Juan De Fuca

May 26 to 29 TOFINO trip...surf, sun and whales!

From May 26 to 29th Helen (did the marine mammal masters course in Scotland with me), Emma (who I worked with at the Center for Whale Research in 2004), Al (worked with Emma on the Dolphin Encounter boat in Kaikoura, New Zealand) and I went to enjoy the sun, surf and whales of Tofino. It was a great time with perfect sunny and warm weather.

We departed on Tuesday and drove for about 5 hours stopping to check out the amazing trees at Cathedral Grove and the rooftop goats in Coombs. After the long drive up we chilled in the cottage we rented at Florencia Bay Hideaway cooking a lovely dinner and enjoying the hottub.

The next morning, Wednesday, we explored Florencia Bay beach which was walking distance from our cabin. That afternoon we rented surfboards from Long Beach Surf Rentals in Ucluelet and headed back to Florencia Bay to surf. Al's friend Josh, the other Canadian in the group besides me and a very knowledgeable local surfer, joined us for a surf. He was also great for giving some surfing tips. It was great fun and I actually got pretty close to standing on the board...and I haven't surfed since 2004! We were also lucky enough to have some gray whales (Eschrichtius robustus) right near shore nearly in the surf themselves! After palying in the waves we made a beach fire to warm up and then headed back to the cottage for another delicious home-cooked dinner and a hottub.

On Thursday, we had another relaxing morning and then headed to Long Beach for another surf. I did even better today and, although they weren't as close to shore as the previous day's whales, we saw multiple humpback (Megaptera novaeangliaea) and gray whale blows offshore of the beach. It was another great surfing day and once again we cooked ourselves a great dinner and soothed our sore surfing muscles with a hottub.

Friday was our last day in Ucluelet and Tofino so we took it easy in the morning and then headed in to wander around the quaint town of Tofino. After checking out the town, supporting the local economy with a few purchases, watching the sea lions at the marina and doing acrobatics in the park, we went to Long Beach for one last play on the beach. Then it was the 5 hour drive home...we were all glowing the entire way after a successful trip of surfing, sun and whales!