T19s

Sept. 29
I just returned from Sidney on the ferry and saw T19B and three or four others off Shaw Island west shore heading south at 1340 today. Got a few long-shot pics from the ferry.
Ken Balcomb, Center for Whale Research

Sept. 29
Despite the rain, we did our best to track a group of transient orcas in San Juan Channel at Turn Island. There were 5-6 animals that were identified as the T19s by another boat. Their foraging pattern was very spread out and random, so we spent a lot of time motoring back and forth. There was at least one kill made while we were on scene, but the victim was unidentified as to species. We left the area at 1515 hours as the animals were heading south down the channel.
~Tristen Joy, Naturalist, Crew At San Juan Safaris Whale Watch Wildlife Tours

T36As

Transient orcas
T36As
Eglon, Kitsap Peninsula
Sept. 27, 2009
Photo by
Randy Sprague
& Wendy Hallett
Photos taken with 300 mm lens

Sept. 28



Sept. 27
My wife, Wendy, spotted a small pod of Orcas this afternoon while heading north along the Kitsap Peninsula in Puget Sound. Wendy spotted three Orcas about a half mile ahead of us off Eglon about 4:00 PM. We stopped our trawler and watched them to see where they were going. They were just milling around between Kitsap and the south end of Whidbey Island pretty much in the shipping lanes. As we watched we noted a couple other Orcas. We saw at least 5 whales, but they were spread out a bit so there may have been more. We watched them for about an hour, and occasionally they got close enough for me to shoot some pictures with my 300 mm lens. I have attached a few of the pictures I got. Two of these pictures show the saddles pretty well, but I am not familiar with these individuals. I am sure you will no doubt be able to recognize them. Thanks for all your good work! Cheers,
Randy Sprague and Wendy Hallett

We were pretty sure these were the 5 Transient orcas that have been down in south Puget Sound since the beginning of Sept, & in looking closely at the photo, thought we could detect what looks like the very small satellite tag placed on T36A by Cascadia Research & NOAA Fisheries on Sept. 20th. When I contacted Brad Hanson with this sighting, he said the sat tag data confirmed that T36A was at this location at that date & time. Cool stuff! You can check out the tracks of T36A & other Transients at Cascadia Research's website here. The maps are updated every few days - they have tracks up to Sept. 26th shown now - it is amazing to see how they have checked out every nook & cranny in So. Puget Sound during just the past week!
Susan Berta, Orca Network

T137s, T36As

Sept. 28
01:10 am - About 5 minutes ago began hearing whistles and calls on the Port Townsend hydrophone that sound like Transients to me. Began recording at 01:13 PDT. Now nice clear calls and whistles. Will post recording to OrcaSound once they've passed.
Scott Veirs, Beam Reach/OrcaSound
This was likely the T137s & T36As heading out of Admiralty Inlet - sb

T63, T65s, T14

Transient orca
T63, "Chainsaw"
Beecher Bay, B.C.
Sept. 26, 2009
Photo by
Marie O'Shaughnessy
Photo cropped

Sept. 26
Just wanted to let you know that when I was out on the Ocean Magic, Sat. Sept 26 at 3.30pm, we headed out west toward Sooke and encountered 6 Transient Orca at Beecher Bay, Vancouver Island. T 63 'Chainsaw ', with that unique dorsal fin all chewed up, was traveling with T 65 and T65B. It was the first time I have ever seen him. There was another female and youngster traveling along with this group, and trailing way behind was old T 14 , 'Pender' . He seemed to be shadowing but was clearly, from my perspective, wanting to be within range of the group but not in the group. Interesting to watch. All the transients were heading east along the shoreline and then south east off Race Rocks. We left them to visit the four very active Humpback Whales just off Victoria. It was a great trip and a great time of year with all the sunshine of late.
Marie O'Shaughnessy. Orca-Magic. POW

T137s, T36As

Transient orcas
Case Inlet, Puget Sound
Sept. 22, 2009
Photo by Cathryn Rice



Sept. 22
These are the photos from my Tuesday phone call telling you we were seeing 6 transient Orcas just north of Hartstine Island, headed north in Case Inlet. There are a few good shots of dorsal fins that might allow you to I.D. some of these guys, especially the one with the two notches on the following edge of the fin. We followed them for about 1 ½ hours, headed north through Case Inlet. We have a fabulous telephoto lens, so were not actually very close, and neither was anyone else, we're happy to report! And just for fun, I included a photo of a couple of sea lions sunning on the yellow bell buoy near Des Moines on the east shore of Puget Sound south of Seattle. We didn't see any breaches of spy hops, just moving along the surface for 3-4 minutes, then deep diving and disappearing for 10 minutes or so, then re- appearing further north. Thanks for all you do,
Cathryn Rice, Olalla, Washington (near Gig Harbor)

These whales were IDd by the Center for Whale Reesearch from photographs taken by Cascadia Research, as the T137's and T36A's - sb

T30s

Sept. 14
We sent the photos of the orcas off Whidbey Island Sept, 14 to the Center for Whale Research, and received this ID from Dave Ellifrit:
Looks like the (transient orcas) T30's.

T137s, T36A & T36A1

Five Transient orcas
Possession Sound
Sept. 7, 2009
Aerial Photo by
Veronica von Allworden
Sky and Sea Photography

IDs of South Sound (& So. Whidbey Isl). Transients:
Word from Dave Ellifrit (Center for Whale Research) is that they are the T137's with T36A and her juvenile offspring T36A1.
Erin Falcone, Cascadia Research, Olympia

Sept. 7
What a fantastic day! This is the first time in years that I was here the same time orcas showed up in Saratoga Passage! Around 11:45 AM we spotted them from Langley near Camano Head and heading in a SE direction. They were moving along at a fairly good pace occasionally changing direction and out of site by 12:20. At 1:30 PM we spotted them from our plane 1/2 mile south of the Clinton ferry heading towards Possession Point. After we landed I drove down to Possession Point Park and watched them pass a ways off shore at 2:20- 2:30 PM. There was some occasional tail slapping, two spy hops, and swimming right along with all of the boat traffic. It was fabulous to see them and I hope my pictures (see above, and also Photo of the Day) help with the ID. From the air we could clearly see that there were 5 orcas. It was more difficult to tell from shore.
Veronica von Allworden, Langley, Whidbey Island

Sept. 7
Orca Network received a report of orcas in Saratoga Passage, 1 mile south of Elger Bay at 8:46 am, but no direction of travel was given. Then we received the report below, so headed south to Langley. We first found the pod at 11:40 am from the shore at Bell's Beach, they were between Langley and Camano Head, milling amongst the many boats in the area. Then they headed toward Langley, so we went south, and found them again at 12:10 pm, just heading around Sandy Pt. We clearly were able to count 5 fins surfacing several times, as they headed south into Possession Sound. From 1:15 - 1:30 pm we watched from the Clinton shoreline, as the orcas were actively jumping and likely feeding, between the Mukilteo Lighthouse & the Clinton Ferry Landing, then they headed on south down Possession Sound.
Looking at Veronica's photos, and the timeline of reports from Olympia, to Seattle, to S. Whidbey, we are certain these are the 5 Transient orcas observed in South Puget Sound Aug. 31 - Sept. 5 - the T137s, T36A & 36A1 - sb.b>

Sept. 7
This morning in Saratoga passage from our home on Camano Island at Mabana Beach, we saw 3-4 Orca Whales closer to Whidbey Island (but several miles north of Langley). They were traveling both north and south in what appeared to be circles, playing, jumping, tail splashing, and possibly feeding. There are clearly fish jumping out there, but we are unsure what type of fish. We spotted them beginning at around 9:15am and are continuing to watch them at this time (10:18 am). There is one Orca in the group that appears to be smaller than the rest of them. We are CERTAIN there are three, but fairly sure there are actually four of them altogether. We hope this helps!
The Underhill Family, Camano Island

T100D, T102, T124D

Transients and seals, Gabriola Island, B.C.
Sept. 7, 2009, Photo by Gary Sutton

Sept. 7
We had a very interesting day yesterday (9/7). We were on our way to see the residents along San Juan Island but got reports of some transients along Gabriola Island. We found 8 transients and were surprised to find them very active with breaches, tail slaps, high speed swimming and spyhops. We never saw any signs of a kill but some very fast swimming close to shore with seals on the rocks so there might have been one. I managed to ID T102, T124D and who i thought was T100D. Here is a picture of some of the T's close to shore with seals in the background (pictured here) and another picture of the whales playing. Cheers,
Gary Sutton, Wild Whales Vancouver

T18, T19, T19B and T19C

Transients
T19 & T19B
Vancouver Island
September 6, 2009
Photo by
Marie O'Shaughnessy

Sept. 6
It was one of those serendipitous moments Sunday Sept. 6th, when suddenly out of the grey mist out west, came four Transient Orca,T18, T19, 19B and 19C. We found them along the rugged shoreline of Vancouver Island, near Secretary Rock. I was on the 12.15pm Ocean Magic 2 vessel, and despite the ugly weather we had some nice views of these animals, one of which was an unexpected surfacing fairly close to the boat. Transients are notorious for zig-zagging in all directions so when they pop up close to boats are they at fault and should be given a WARNING ? They are wild animals and are totally unpredctable. Like Heather Harris commented on the Orcanetwork blog, Sept 7th of her experience Sept. 4th with SR's, '' Á picture can say a thousand words '' one just can't anticipate where animals will pop up at all times. It is interesting that these four Transients showed up at this time once again, when Cascadia plans to tag some Transients in the next little while. I read that T19B was tagged last year on Sept. 16th so followed his movements on their site. Fascinating work.
Marie O'Shaughnessy. POW, Victoria BC

U38, U39

Transient orcas
U38 & U39
Constance Bank
Sept. 4, 2009
Photo by
Marie O'Shaughnessy

Sept. 4
Apparently these two Transient Orca (see photo) seen by the 3.30pm Ocean Magic trip out of Victoria, Friday Sept 4th, were labelled as 'unknown' until at a later time last evening, when Mark Mallard from POW was able to identify them, as U 38 and U 39. They were seen 2 miles south of Constance Bank, Strait of Juan de Fuca and heading even further south when we left them at 5pm. We had spent time with a Humpback Whale south of Constance Bank that was foraging before we got word that the Transients were out there too. A nice surprise and the first sighting for me of 'exotics'.Everyday out on the water holds so many surprises. It is awesome to see all this wildlife in these waters. How fortunate we are to live on the west coast.!
Marie O'Shaughnessy, Orca-Magic. Prince Of Whales, Victoria B.C.

Since I'd never run across any "U" Transients before, I asked for clarification from the Center for Whale Research as to what a "U" (rather than a "T") Transient means - here's Dave's answer - sb:
It means Graeme (Ellis, of Canada's DFO Pacific Biological Field Station) is not willing to call them transients yet since (probably) no one has biopsied these two, there are no recordings of them, and/or they have never been sufficiently associated with known west coast transients. They do look like they came out of a slightly different mold and may have moved into these waters from somewhere to the south of here or from offshore.
Dave Ellifrit, Center for Whale Research

T40

Sept. 4
Orca Network received a call from Dan Shenk, reporting 1 male orca with a dorsal fin bent to the left at the tip (T40?), at Seaview, near Ilwaco, WA Sept. 4th, heading south at 7 pm in 90' of water.

T11 and T11A

Transient orcas
T11 & T11A
Sooke, S. Vancouver Island, B.C.
Sept. 3, 2009
Photo by Marie O'Shaughnessy

Sept. 3
The 12.15pm Ocean Magic 2 vessel went west today, Thursday Sept 3rd, 2009 to encounter two Transient Orca off Sooke Vancouver Island. They were T 11 and T 11A. ID by Mark Malleson. Great to see them in a resting phase slowly heading out west. Picture cropped.
Marie O'Shaughnessy, Prince of Whales, Victoria B.C.

T100, T100B, T100C, T10, T10B, T10C, T63 and T46D

Transient orca T46D
Constance Bank
Sept. 2, 2009
Photo by
Joan Lopez

On our afternoon trip on Sep 2, we were headed southwest toward Discovery Island to check in on T18 and the T19 group when we got word of a large group of T's at Constance Bank. After a very brief stop with the first 4 transients, we elected to head further south to reduce the number of boats viewing that small group. As we neared Constance Bank, we could see lines of fins and blows appearing on the horizon in all directions. Most of our viewing was from 1/4 to 1/2 mile as it seemed there was no pattern to the movements of the lines between surfacings, and moving the boat in the direction where the whales had been last proved to be quite unproductive. After what seemed like a long wait, we finally had a group of whales close enough to ID a few of them (about 200- 300 m). The T10's were the most recognizable group at first. Although it appeared the whales were headed away from us, the next time they surfaced, they were behind our boat and moving up our starboard side. A couple of breaches were followed by some upside-down swimming, tail slaps and some general rollling around. The whales finished that breathing sequence and when they appeared again, they were at least 1/4 mile away and back to their serious selves. From a photo taken by one of our passengers, it has been determined that at least one of the whales present was a California Transient that was also seen in Alaska this summer. I have also attached another photo that I took (300 zoom and very cropped! see above photo) of a whale that is not in the catalogue and is not familiar to Dr. Lance Barrett-Lennard, whose specialty is Alaskan Transients. The photo has also been forwarded to the DFO researchers at Nanaimo*. The T's that were Id'ed later from photos were T100, T100B, T100C, T10, T10B, T10C, T63 and T46. This was just the one line that approached the boat close enough to ID. All the others were just fins and blows in the distance - beautiful! It was definitely worth the extra trip to see these top predators all grouped together.
Joan Lopez, Naturalist, Vancouver Whale Watch
*Dave Ellifrit of the Center for Whale Research has ID'd this whale as T46D - sb

T18, T19s

Sept. 2
Long time Center for Whale Research volunteer, Stewart Macintyre, spotted transients from the Center for Whale Research at 1:00 p.m. a few miles SW of Zero Rock. At 1:51 we encountered the T18's (T18, T19, T19B, and T19C) three miles NE of Baynes Channel (48° 29.633 N,123° 13.893 W). The whales attacked and killed a harbor seal and then grouped up and headed SW toward Discovery Island, B.C. (48° 29.317 N,123° 13.402 W) at 2:50 pm. From the photos taken we were able to confirm that T19C is a male.
Dave Ellifrit, Erin Heydenreich, Astrid Van Ginnekin, and Stewart Macintyre on Orca; Ken Balcomb, Marjoleine Roos and Tiffany Humphrey on Starlet
Center for Whale Research,
Encounter 45

Sept. 2
Wed. 9/2 - Four transient orcas at Zero Rock south of D'Arcy Island at 2:00 P.M. We saw several large breaches from a distance and a harbor seal was eaten while we were on scene. After the seal there was some general milling and then all of the animals headed southwest. Present were T018, T018B, T018C and T019.
Tristen Joy, Naturalist, Crew At San Juan Safaris Whale Watch Wildlife Tours