T36s

June 21
Hi, Just reporting a sighting of a pod of Orcas right off Mutiny Bay on Whidbey Island. It was about 3pm on June 21st. They were heading towards Seattle initially but then turned around and appeared to be circling in the shipping channel. We aren't familiar with the various pods but this one seemed to include at least 7 whales, including one baby and another younger (1 year old?) one. They were traveling then would stop, play and go in various directions. They seemed to be feeding on something-we saw lots of fish on our fish finder and some dolphins in the distance but couldn't really see what they were eating.
Caron McCune

June 21
I had a look at Lindsey McCune's photos of the transients (off Whidbey Island) and she definitely had the T36's. Warmest Regards,
Simon Pidcock, Ocean Ecoventures

T14, T20, T2s

Northbound transient Orcas outside Campbell River. Possibly T20 and others
Aboriginal Journeys@Campbell River
24 Jun 2009 09:49:34 PDT

Update on the Transients just north of Campbell River T 14 , T20 n T2's at 11:30 am
Aboriginal Journeys@Campbell River
24 Jun 2009 11:43:26 PDT

T036, T036B, T036C, T099, and T099B

Transient orcas - T36's
Mutiny Bay, Whidbey Island
June 21
Photo by Lindsey McCune

Jared Towers of Canada's Cetacean Research Program, Pacific Biological Field Station has further ID's on the Transient orcas photographed off S. Whidbey Island June 21st:
The animals I can confirm are as follows. T036, T036B, T036C, T099, and T099B. T099A is likely there as well but can't confirm it at low resolution. kind regards,
Jared Towers, Cetacean Research Program, Pacific Biological Station

June 21
I just wanted to send you some photos (link at the end of this email) I took of the orcas we saw on the 21st. It was pretty incredible and it was a complete fluke that I even had my camera with me. As my Mom said, they were in or very close to Mutiny Bay at around 3pm. It was the first time we had taken the boat out this year and thought at most we might see some seals or porpoises; we have been going out around this area for many summers and had never seen orcas before. When we first saw them in the distance, we thought they were porpoises but as we got a little closer, we could see their big fins and realized they were orcas. Needless to say, we were in complete awe. We tried to maintain a respectful distance as we did not want to upset them. But they actually seemed quite curious about our boat (which was 19ft) and swam in closer to us. We shut off the engine and they acted very playful.
I'm sure you can tell more from the photos than I can but I believe there were at least 7 or 8 of them. There was one "baby" that looked very new, he is in a couple of photos. There was another small one too but he didn't look brand new. A couple of them have some pretty distinctive notches in their dorsal fins so maybe that could help to identify them. I am not an experienced photographer at all and this was one of the first times I had ever used my camera but I pretty much just took as many shots as I could and got really lucky with a few of them.
We were blown away by our encounter with these magnificent creatures and are eager to know more about them if possible. thank you!
Lindsey McCune

T2s, T14, T20 and T21

June 20
We had T2's, T14 and T20 and 21 pass by Campbell River this morning, last seen south bound at Bates Beach, Comox.
Matthew Ellis, Eagle Eye Adventures, Campbell River

T49s

June 20
T49A, T49A1 and T49A2 were skulking around between Race Rocks and Pedder Bay for most of the day on June 20.
Mark Malleson, Prince of Whales, Victoria BC

T11s

June 19
T11 et al was headed east in the Straits off Port Renfrew, Vancouver Island on Friday.
Brad Hanson, NOAA Fisheries NWFSC, Seattle

T2's, T90's and T14

June 15
Hey Susan, We had some Transient's off Quadra Island today (6/15) found by "Neptune " (Simon) all the way from Cowichan Bay "Ocean eco ventures". Identified as the T2's, possibly T90's and met up with T14 . Way to go!
Matthew Ellis, Eagle Eye Adventures

T20 & T21

Transient Orcas
T20 & T21
Salt Spring Island, B.C.
June 15, 2009
Photo by Joan Lopez


June 15
We were on our way to the Victoria area this afternoon (6/15) to watch the 3 Transient's that had shown up there, when something in the water caught the eye of Captain John. We were just south of Beaver Point on Saltspring Island when T20 and T21 surfaced. They were doing very long dives, 7-8 minutes at a time, and were likely resting. They still followed a zig-zagging pattern though, making it very difficult to predict where they would surface again. Given the long dives, it was pure chance that these whales were spotted at all. It was a treat for our passengers to have these two whales all to themselves for about 20 minutes, when the next boat arrived on scene. We left T20 and T21 after 4 PM, travelling in a mostly northerly direction towards Navy Channel.
Joan Lopez, Vancouver Whale Watch

Transient Orcas
June 2, 2009
Strait of Juan de Fuca
Photo by Andrew Lees

June 1
What a magnificent start to Orca Month with over 20 Transient Orcas in the Strait of Juan De Fuca! (see above photo) During our afternoon tour we were incredibly fortunate to not only observe two Harbor Seal kills by the Transient Orcas but a greeting ceremony as two different groups met North of Port Angeles. We observed one dramatic kill in particular as a young Orca porpoised directly towards a harbor Seal and then exploded onto the poor unsuspecting Seal! Later as the two groups met we saw a number of tailslaps, Spyhops, pectoral waves and breaches, it was breathtaking to watch.
Andrew Lees, Marine Naturalist, Five Star Whale Watching

June 1
Another morning starting out without knowing where or if there were any Orcas close by. Then the call came - 3 miles N of Dungeness Spit, which is near Sequim. We got there in about 50 minutes and watched a spectacular scene. One of the other captains announced that there was a seal to the port side of his boat. No sooner said, three female orcas headed toward the poor seal at top speed, porpoising through the water with blazing speed. The captain said he just saw the seal turn its head toward the onrushing Orcas about a second before he was gone. This all happened so quickly that I missed most of it with my camera but not the eyes. We left about 4:00 PM and shortly after that the last boat on scene departed and the Ts were not to be found again yesterday evening.
Capt. Jim Maya, Maya's Westside Charters

T14

June 13
Transient orca T14 south end of Quadra Island. 3 other orcas bute inlet.
Aaron Webber, Campbell River Whale watching

T10, T10B & T10C

June 12
Transient orcas T10, T10b, and T10c off quadra island, B.C. Canada @ 1100 heading north.
Aaron webber, Campbell River whale watching

T20 T21

June 10
As if that wasn't magic enough (see above report), on the way back we sighted two more Orca off Seabird Lighthouse, Discovery Island, and they turned out to be T 20 and T 21. We only saw them once and then they disappeared.
Marie , Orca-Magic POW, Victoria B.C.

T125, T127, T125A and T128

June 9
I was forwarded an e-mail and photos from Julia regarding a group of killer whales. She got some pretty good photos so hopefully someone can identify who this group of (transient?) killer whales is.
Thanks, Dawn Noren, NOAA Fisheries
Forwarded report:
My name is Julia and I am working with pinnipeds at the Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport, OR. On Tuesday (June 9) I saw a group of at least 8 orcas off the central Oregon coast traveling southwards, between 5:40 pm and around 9:00 pm. The group consisted of two big males (one of them has a very remarkable dorsal fin - looks like cut at the tip), several adult females and probably one calf. The first sighting was at 5:41 pm pretty close to the shore in Depoe Bay. They spent about 20 minutes in the bay before slowly traveling south. A sea lion was present but the orcas seemed not to be interested at all. I followed them and saw them again off Rocky Creek State Park, Otter Crest and Cape Foulweather. Off Rocky Creek they were playing (or hunting?) and breaching. One of the big males separated from the group (maybe with one or more group members) and continued traveling south. From time to time they swam farther off shore and were hard to see. I ended up watching at Moolack Beach where the they were pretty close to the beach again. They showed almost the same behavior as off Rocky Creek for at least an hour. Around sunset they swam farther off shore again and I lost sight.
I hope this information and the pictures are helpful and usable! Best regards
Julia, Newport, OR

We forwarded these photos to orca researchers and received the following replies:
"I can ID T125 and T127 from the attached photos. It would be likely that both T125A and T128 would be present as well. These animals are usually seen near Langara Island so it's nice to have an encounter of them so far to the south. best regards,
Jared Towers, Canada's DFO Pacific Biological Field Station, B.C.
And from Dave Ellifrit, Center for Whale Research:
"Looks like T125 and T127 plus others."

T14

June 4
Just wanted to inform you of T14 (Pender) heading north mid Strait of Georgia between the Powell River ferry terminal and Savory Island yesterday (6/4) afternoon.
Matthew Ellis, Eagle Eye Adventures

T124s

Transient Orcas
Yaquinna Hd, Newport, OR
June 2, 2009
Photo by Amanda Gladics
ID's from this report below

June 2 - OR Transient IDs:
We received the below ID's for these Transient orcas reported off Yaquinna Head, Newport OR on June 2nd:
These animals(see above photo) look very much like the T124A matriline. T124A, T124A1, T124A2, and T124A3. Thanks for forwarding this sighting along. regards,
Jared Towers, DFO Pacific Biological Field Station, Canada

T2s and T14

T14, "Pender"
Cape Mudge, BC
June 2, 2009
Photo by Nick Templeman


June 2
We had the T-2s i believe today along with T-14 in the Campbell River area. Left on our tour at 1515 from C.R. with reports of orcas off of Fransisco Point, south end of Quadra Island. Went around and found, i think, the T-2s, 5 animals in post feeding activity. The young one was breaching alot, and amazing vocalization for about 40 minutes. Afterwards we headed to the mouth of Bute Inlet and found a black bear foraging along the shoreline. We found another black bear on Sonora Island on the way home, and some info on the way turned into finding "Pender" T-14 Southbound @ Cape Mudge (see photo above). A beautiful trip and happy guests with a 4hr safari turning into 6hrs! But with so much to see, no one wanted to go home - including me!! Cheers!
Nick Templeman, Discovery Marine Safaris, Cambell River BC

June 2
We have Orcas off the south end of quadra island. @ 1425 on the 2nd of june.
4 or 6 orcas; Humpback in the area as well.
Aaron Webber, Campbell river whale watching