MAIACETUS: killer whales

Showing posts with label killer whales. Show all posts

Sunday, September 27, 2009

August 14, 2009 AFTERNOON L pod off San Juan Island

Departure time: 1402
Vessel: Five Star Charter's Supercat

Sighting #1: 'Resident' fish eating killer whales (Orcinus orca)

Time: 1505

Start location: North of Hein Bank, Strait of Juan De Fuca
End location: North of Hein Bank, Strait of Juan De Fuca
Behaviour: tight groups travelling slowly north

Pods and Individuals identified: L - L22, L79, L89, L72, L105, L95, L86, L112, L2, L78, L88

Cool killer whale fact: Orcas can swim up to 30 mph and can travel 75-100 miles or more per day.

Links
Center for Whale Research killer whale fact page, photo ID and matrilines
Orca Adoption Program at Friday Harbour Whale Museum
Orcasound online hydrophone network
Orca Sightings Network
American Cetacean Society fact sheet

Breach!

L92, Crewser, a 15 year old 'sprouting'or maturing male

Above 2 photos: Probably L105 doing pectoral fin slaps

Photographs like this one can be used to sex young killer whales...We can tell L105 is a male by zooming into the photo and looking for the mammary slits (absent on males) and the longer white middle part of the white 'trident' marking near the whales tail (check out the Center for Whale Research Q and A page to see what to look for...scroll down to the section "Can you tell male calves from females?")

...and some inverted tail lobs...

...and another tail lob!

Very surface active! More inverted tail lobs!

August 14, 2009 MORNING L pod off San Juan Island

Departure time: 0958

Vessel: Five Star Charter's Supercat

Sighting #1: 'Resident' fish eating killer whales (Orcinus orca)
Time: 1050
Start location: Haro Strait, off False Bay, San Juan Island, WA

End location: 2.5 miles south of False Bay

Behaviour: travelling in tight groups southbound

Pods and Individuals identified: L - L25, L12, L85, L87?, L22, L89, L79, L41, L94, L77, L26, L90, L922, L72, L105, L100?, L83, L110,

Cool killer whale fact: Orcas are found throughout the world’s oceans, but tend to prefer the cooler, more productive polar and temperate waters.

Links

Center for Whale Research killer whale fact page, photo ID and matrilines

Orca Adoption Program at Friday Harbour Whale Museum

Orcasound online hydrophone network

Orca Sightings Network

American Cetacean Society fact sheet

L41, Mega, a 32 year old male Resident killer whale

L26, Grace, a female estimated to be born in 1956

L83, Moonlight, an 18 year old female with her 3 year old L110, Midnight

L72, Racer, a 23 year old female

Breach!

And another!

and the landing!

August 12, 2009 MORNING J pod in the Strait of Juan De Fuca

Departure time: 0958
Vessel: Five Star Charter's Supercat

Sighting #1: 'Resident' fish eating killer whales (Orcinus orca)

Time: 1122

Start location: mid Strait of Juan De Fuca, 3.5 miles south of Sheringham Point, Vancouver Island
End location: mid Strait of Juan De Fuca, 3.5 miles southwest of Sheringham Point, Vancouver

Behaviour: groups spread, travelling fast westbound
Pods and Individuals identified: J, K and L - J1, J8, J14, J30, J37, J40, J44, J16, J26, J36, J42 (we didn't ID any Ks or Ls but other vessels reported seeing them)

Cool killer whale fact: Like all dolphins, orcas use sophisticated biological sonar, called echolocation (Au et al, 2003 paper on Resident killer whale echolocation).

J42, Echo , two year old female travelling with her mother J16, Slick, a female estimated to be born in 1972

J16, Slick

J19, Schachi, a 30 year old female killer whale

J14, Samish, a female estiated to be born in 1974 travelling with her newest calf J45, 8 months old, and J30, Riptide, her 14 year old son

J37, Hysquah, the 8 year old younger sister of J30

Race Rocks Ecological Reserve, the most southerly point on the Pacific coast of Canada. The lighthouse has been getting refurbished over this past summer as can be seen by the mesh covering to protect it.

male Steller sea lion (Eumatopia jubatus) at Race Rocks...they are just starting to return from their northerly summer breeding grounds

Dilapidated house onshore near Sooke Harbour

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

AUGUST 10, 2009 MORNING All three Southern Resident pods resting off the Victoria waterfront...and a humpback near Race Rocks!

Departure time: 0900
Vessel: Five Star Charter's Fastcat

Sighting #1: 'Resident' fish eating killer whales (Orcinus orca)

Time: 0916

Start location: right off Beacon Hill Park, Victoria waterfront

End location: 0.5 miles west of Trial Island/Enterprise Channel
Pods and Individuals identified:

J - J1, J2, J8, J14, J30, J37, J40?, J45, J17, J28, J35?, J44, J16, J42, J33, J36, J26, J34, J19, J41

K - K21, K40, K11, K20, K38?, K25?, K26

L - L12, L85, L22, L92, L90, L87, L89, L26, L7, L53, L25

Cool killer whale fact: Like all cetaceans, killer whales are voluntary breathers and are “half awake” when they are resting. Their brain has the ability to split activities; half will 'sleep' while the other half controls breathing and mobility (Lyamin et al. 2008 paper abstract)

J1, Ruffles, a male estimated to have been born in 1951

J14, Riptide, a 14 year old 'sprouting' (maturing) male

J27, Blackberry, an 18 year old male

J1, Ruffles, and J2, Granny, estimated born in 1911...these two are probably the oldest members of the Southern Resident community

L92, Crewser, a 14 year old 'sprouting' (maturing) male

Huge milling Southern Resident group off the Victoria waterfront with the cruise ships at Ogden Point in the background

Southern Residents with the Victoria waterfront in the background

J1 and L26, Baba, a female estimated to be born in 1956

L77, Matia, a 22 year old female (1st from left), L53, Lulu, a 32 year old female (2nd from left)and J14, Samish, a female estimated to be born in 1974 (fourth from left) within a group of the Southern Residents

Above 2 photos: large group of Southern Residents tight and travelling slowly off the Victoria waterfront

Sighting #2: Humpback whale (Balaenopter acutorostrata)

Time: 1044

Location: 1 mile East of Race Rocks in the Strait of Juan De Fuca

Behaviour: probably foraging, no direction

Cool humpback whale fact: The humpback whale is one of the rorquals, a family that also includes the blue whale, fin whale, Bryde's whale, sei whale, and minke whale. Rorquals take their name from the Norwegian word röyrkval, meaning "furrow whale". All members of the family have a series of longitudinal folds of skin running down their throats.

Links

American Cetacean Society humpback whale fact sheet

Center for Whale Research online humpback catalogue of humpbacks seen in the Salish Sea

Department of Fisheries and Oceans humpback catalogue

Above 2 photos: Humpback whale

AUGUST 9, 2009 AFTERNOON J, K and L pod whales in Haro Strait

Departure time: 1355

Vessel: Five Star Charter's Fastcat

Sighting #1: 'Resident' fish eating killer whales (Orcinus orca)
Time: 1450 - 1520 (leave whales to check Hein Bank for minke whales - none), 1550 - 1615
Start location: 2.5 miles south of Beaumont Shoals, Haro Strait

End location: 1 mile west of False Bay

Pods and Individuals identified:
J - J1, J2, J26
K - K21, K12, K22, K37

L - L72, L105, L7, L53, L83, L110, L95, L74

Cool killer whale fact: Orcas are the largest members of the dolphin family, or delphinidae

Links

Center for Whale Research killer whale fact page, photo ID and matrilines

Orca Adoption Program at Friday Harbour Whale Museum

Orcasound online hydrophone network

Orca Sightings Network

American Cetacean Society fact sheet

L83, Moonlight, a 19 year old female and her 2 year old son L110, Midnight, travelling with J1, Ruffles a male estimated to have been born in 1951

L72, Racer, a 23 year old female probably being followed by her 5 year old son L105, Fluke

L83 and L53, Lulu, a 32 year old female

L95, Nigel, a 13 year old 'sprouting' (maturing) male killer whale

J26, Mike, an 18 year old male travelling with L74, Saanich a 23 year old male

L74, Saanich

AUGUST 8, 2009 EVENING L pod whales in Haro Strait

Departure time: 1743
Vessel: Five Star Charter's Fastcat

Sighting #1: 'Resident' fish eating killer whales (Orcinus orca)
Time: 1823

Start location: 2 miles west of False Bay, San Juan Island

End location: 1 mile west of Hannah Heights

Behaviour: groups spread, foraging
Cool killer whale fact: Southern Resident orcas rely on salmon, specifically chinook in the summer and chum in the fall, fortheir survival. Chinook salmon constitutes over 70% of their diet (Ford and Ellis, 2006 paper)

L26, Baba, a female estimated to be born in 1956

L78, Onyx, 20 year old male and Baba's son

L26

L90, Ballena, a 16 year old female

Above 3 photos: L74, Saanich, a 23 year old male