April 15, 2014: Secretary Island Otter...again!

365 Project, Day 171

Here is my day 171 submission to my 365Project:

Once again the sea otter (Enhydra lutris) who has been hanging around Secretary Island off Sooke was spotted during our afternoon whale watch trip. It seems this otter has found herself a good spot and is sticking to it!  

This afternoon I worked another whale watching trip, this time on Five Star Charters boat the Supercat. I've been working with Five Star since 2000 (more casually in recent years) and it was great to be back with my old crew today. Despite the fact we had no reports to go on when we left the dock, we had a great trip and I was happy they called me to work! 

After departing Victoria Harbour we cruised south in the Strait of Juan De Fuca to head to one of our favourite wildlife viewing areas, Race Rocks Ecological Reserve. Race Rocks has an interesting history and is abundant in wildlife viewing opportunities. On previous trips to Race Rocks a great variety of cetaceans have been observed in the area including: Biggs (formerly Transient) mammal-eating and Resident fish-eating killer whales (Orcinus orca), minke whales (Balaenoptera acutorostrata), gray whales (Eschrichtius robustus), humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) and harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) and Dall's porpoise (Phocoenoides Dalli). 

In addition to all the cetacean species taking advantage of the rich habitat of Race Rocks, four pinniped species use the area as a haul out including: harbour seal (Phoca vitulina), Steller sea lions (Eumatopia jubatus), California sea lions (Zalophus californianus) and northern elephant seals (Mirounga angustirostris). There is also a great variety of bird life with one of the highlights being the Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus). 

Indeed this was another great visit to Race Rocks with sightings of both juvenile and adult bald eagles, harbour seals, Steller and California sea lions and the elephant seals. We then cruised further west in the Strait of Juan De Fuca towards the waters off Sooke, a small community west of Victoria, to see what might be lingering out there. Just near Sooke lies Secretary Island where we decided to see if we could find the same otter seen during the whale watching trip I worked April 10. To our delight the sea otter was once again bobbing around in the waters at Secretary Island and we had a very nice look at her (I say 'her' due to the scratching on her nose...which is caused by males while mating!). 

After the lovely sea otter sighting we traveled back east towards Race Rocks and suddenly, quite unexpectedly, the we spotted a blow ahead of us. Once we reached the location of the sighting and the animal surfaced again we discovered it was a Gray whale (Eschrichtius robustus) in travel mode. Initially we were a bit confused as we were having trouble tracking the whale's surfacings...but soon enough we discovered that there were actually two animals! Although they were fairly close to each other, they were surfacing at different times creating the confusion as to where they were going to come up next. 

I was so excited to see these two gray whales as, due to the nature of the MMO/PAM work I have been doing the last few years, I haven't worked in areas with gray whales so haven't seen them much recently. What a great day...we had a nice sighting of the Secretary Island sea otter and two gray whales. I especially love it when whale watching trips work out so nicely when we don't have sightings reports at the time of departure!

Here are some more photos from today's whale watching trip:

This gull doesn't look to sure about me snapping it's photo!

Juvenile Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus)

Steller sea lions (Eumatopia jubatus) thermoregulating as many of the pinniped species do

Steller sea lions (Eumatopia jubatus) thermoregulating with a Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus)

Adult Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) with Olympic Mountains

sea otter (Enhydra lutris) hanging out off Secretary Island, Sooke

sea otter (Enhydra lutris) hanging out off Secretary Island, Sooke

One of two gray whales (Eschrichtius robustus) we observed just west of Race Rocks 

One of two gray whales (Eschrichtius robustus) we observed just west of Race Rocks 

One of two gray whales (Eschrichtius robustus) we observed just west of Race Rocks - you can see the different pigmentation colours on the flank of the whale which are used to for photo-ID research

Gray whale (Eschrichtius robustus)

Gray whale (Eschrichtius robustus)

Gray whale (Eschrichtius robustus)

Gray whale (Eschrichtius robustus)

Gray whale (Eschrichtius robustus)

T40 aka Captain Hook travelling with the T124s and T90s in Haro Strait April 20th!

Finally we are starting to get some warmer weather...and calm seas! We departed at 2 pm this afternoon and, fortunately for us, already had a report of a group of Transient 'mammal eating' killer whales in Haro Strait. We travelled east across the Victoria waterfront, taking in the amazing views of the Olympic Mountains to the south of us, past Oak Bay and Chatham and Discovery Islands and into Haro Strait where the border between Canada and the US runs north toward Vancouver City.

Olympic Mountains and Chatham and Discovery Islands

After travelling for just over an hour we reached the north side of Henry Island, near Battleship Island, in the north end of Haro Strait and spotted some other whale watching vessels travelling with two Transient 'mammal eating' killer whales (Orcinus orca). In addition to the whale watching vessels we also spotted the Center For Whale Research vessel conducting a photo-ID survey on the two Transients.

Center For Whale Research staff doing photo ID on transients T40 and T124C

Our reports from earlier in the day indicated that there was a group of about 8 animals travelling together but when we arrived we found there were only two animals. The group had split and we found we were watching a mature male,T40 aka Captain Hook, travelling with a female T124C who is a member of the T124 group. We soon spotted another small cluster of whale watching boats. The rest of the T124 group was travelling with the T90s on the other side of Haro Strait near Halibut and Sidney Islands. Due to the nature of the border here (it runs up the center of Haro Strait) T40 and T124C were travelling in US waters while the rest of the T124s and T90s were travelling in Canadian waters...but I'm sure they didn't know they were travelling in two different countries!

T124C and T40 travelling northbound in Haro Strait

T40 in Haro Strait

Transient killer whale T40

Transient killer whale T40

Transient killer whales T40 and T124C

After having a nice look at Captain Hook and T124C (and the Center for Whale Research researchers!) we decided to cross back into Canadian waters and see the other group. We watched this group who were pointed in a northerly direction but not making much movement up the strait. Just before we reached this group of 5 animals we spotted a harbour seal (Phoca vitulina) not far from them. Not sure if the seal was aware of their presence but shortly after we started watching the second group of animals they looked like they were hunting in the area where we saw the seal. In addition to their milling around in one spot for a few minutes we saw a couple sea gulls come to pick scraps i.e. Transient crumbs, from the water...a good indicator that Transients are feeding!

member of T124 and T90 groups of Transient killer whales

member of T124 and T90 groups of Transient killer whales

member of T124 and T90 groups of Transient killer whales

T124 and T90 groups of Transient killer whales with Stuart Island, WA in background

T124 and T90 groups of Transient killer whales with Stuart Island, WA in background

T124 and T90 groups of Transient killer whales with Stuart Island, WA in background

T124 and T90 groups of Transient killer whales

T124 and T90 groups of Transient killer whales

T124 and T90 groups of Transient killer whales

After a wonderful sighting of the T124 and T90 Transient killer whale groups we left them just after 4 pm as they continued their northerly direction in Haro Strait and started to head back towards Victoria.

Mount Baker and Shuskan, WA with San Juan Islands in foreground

Heading home after watching T40 and T124s in Haro Strait

On the way down Haro Strait we made a stop at Kelp Reefs where we saw three Steller sea lions (Eumatopia jubatus) hauled out on the ledge of the marker. They also seemed to be enjoying the sun, warmth and calm seas!

Kelp Reef, Haro Strait and amazing flat calm waters!

Steller sea lions hauled out on the Kelp Reef marker

On the way back to the Victoria harbour we made one last stop in the Chain Islands near Chatham and Discovery Islands near Oak Bay. We took a quick look at the harbour seals also affectionately known as `rock sausages` by local whale watchers because they are one of the main prey of the Transient killer whales. We also spotted some seabirds including Pelagic cormorants (Phalacrocorax kenyoni ), double crested cormorants (Phalacrocorax auritus), Harlequin ducks (Histrionicus histrionicus) and Black oystercatchers (Haematopus bachmani). It was a great way to end a wonderful sunny and calm day on the water!

Double Crested cormorant (identifiable by kink in neck in flight) in the Chain Islands, Oak Bay

Finally...back on the water on Thursday March 12!

Last Thursday, March 12, Five Star Charters had the first whale watching trip of the 2009 season! Even though it is still winter it was a beautiful day…the sun was shining and there was little wind. The Olympic Mountains in Washington State looked amazing especially with such good snowcover; a sight not commonly seen during the warm summer days of the whale watching season.

The Olympic Mountains, Washington State - Race Rocks is in the distance and Mount Olympus is the mountain seen through the Elwha River Valley

When we left the dock at 1530, with our group of die-hard passengers (and 5 crew!), we had no reports of whales. Another whale watching boat returned from a trip but, after searching the waters of Haro Strait east of Victoria, had no sightings to report. So we decided to head south towards Race Rocks and into the Strait of Juan De Fuca to see what we could find.

Rocks at Race Rocks with Mt Baker in background

View of Mt Olympus from Race Rocks

A couple days earlier, on the evening o f March 10, (check out the reports on Orca Sightings Network) J pod, one of the three, fish eating, Southern Resident Killer Whale pods, swam north past the Lime Kiln Lighthouse on the west shore of San Juan Island, Washington State (check out the Center for Whale Research encounter). Their vocalizations from the hydrophone at the lighthouse were amazing (OrcaSound Hydrophones with killer whale recordings) and, despite the tanker traffic, all who tuned in to OrcaSound hydrophones were able to listen to them for quite some time!

One of the pair of nesting bald Eagle adding sticks to nest at Albert Head

With the knowledge that J pod recently passed through the area we felt, despite how early in the season it was, there was a decent chance of seeing killer whales. As well, there had been many winter sightings of Transients or mammal-eating killer whales. Captain Trev and our local whale guru, Ron Bates of the Marine Mammal Research Group, decided we should head south along the shoreline of Vancouver Island, to check for Transients hunting for seals.

Harbour Seals hauled out with double crested cormorants at William Head

While we searched for marine life on our way to Race Rocks Marine Protected Area, the most southerly point of western Canada, we were fortunate enough to see a pair of nesting bald eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) at Albert Head. In fact, as we approached the nest we saw one eagle flying to it with a stick; it was adding new material to the nest! After seeing the eagles we continued past Race Rocks and along the southwest coast of Vancouver Island. It was a beautiful trip and, although nobody else spotted them, Captain Trev spotted a couple of harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena). It’s not surprising they were only seen once as this species of porpoise usually avoids vessels.

Club Fed! William Head minimum security penitentiary

We continued west in the Strait of Juan de Fuca until we reached Secretary Island off East Sooke Park where we saw many harbour seals hauled out on the rocks. Locally, harbour seals are affectionately known as ROCK SAUSAGES since they are one of the favourite foods of the Transient killer whales. As we turned around to head east, back to Race Rocks, the wind picked up a little; it was a somewhat bouncy and wet ride but our adventurous passengers appeared to enjoy it.

Harbour Seals aka rock sausages, at Secretary Island off East Sooke Park

Lighthouse at Race Rocks...looks like it's getting a new paint job!

At Race Rocks we cruised through the channel at Great Race to look for sea lions. There weren’t any on the channel side of Great Race but fortunately, just when we thought we were going to miss them, we spotted a nice group of Stellar sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus) sitting on the southeast end!

Stellar sea lions at Race Rocks

After watching the sea lions' antics we headed back towards the Victoria waterfront taking in the spectacular views of Mt Baker in the early evening sun. Although we didn’t see any whales this trip we were lucky to see bald eagles building their nest, seals resting on the rocks, sea lions at Great Race and amazing views of snow-capped Mount Baker and Olympic mountains!

Olympic Mountains south of Race Rocks lighthouse

Mt Baker with and ships en route to inland waters

Our first passengers of 2009 (with Captain Trev and Ron)!