T14

T-14 was swimming by today just out side of the Coast Harbour Marina in Campbell River. Heading North with his group!!
Discovery Marine Safaris@Campbell River
06 May 2010 16:14:00 PDT

T23s

Hi Paul&Helena! An update from the Westside! I will be working out of Tofino for the season. As well on the same tour we had 4 adult female Orcas and one young calf which were Id'd a the T-23s yesterday. Cheers and look for more update from the "westside" as the season progresses!:)
Haywire@Tofino BC
02 May 2010 23:17:18 PDT

T073 and T074

No orcas present.

Apparently, T073 and T074 went west past Alert Bay early yesterday afternoon. Jared Towers left them at 3pm near Port McNeill.
Helena
01 May 2010 07:20:44 PDT

T49s T103

The Transients, the T49's and the big bull T103 milling around. The whales were onto something, beneath the surface when we arrived at 2pm. We first saw them off Albert Head, Vancouver Island, after a tip from shore. We left them heading toward the Victoria Harbour and south east.

Marie, Orca-Magic, Prince of Whales, Victoria, B.C.

                T49B

T124A, 124A1, 124A2, 124A3, 124A4, 86A, and 86A baby

I was just leaving the Victoria office to head back to San Juan Island in late afternoon when Jim Maya called with a report of transients and a sea lion near Kelp Reef in Haro Strait. I arrived on scene at 1723 and observed seven transient killer whales (T124A, 124A1, 124A2, 124A3, 124A4, 86A, and 86A baby) swimming rapidly and erratically in circles in the tide rips. Jim said that he had seen them thrashing a sea lion about thirty minutes earlier, but had not seen it since. At 1807, I briefly saw a very relaxed looking Steller sea lion just in front of T124A1, but could not determine if it was still alive. Gulls arrived around the same time, so I presume a trophic transition was underway. The tide was flowing rapidly and pushing us all toward Henry Island when I left at 1827. I came away very impressed, once again, at how tough these one ton sea lions are; but, they are no match for a pod of killer whales.


Ken Balcomb, Center for Whale Research, San Juan Island

T87, T88, T90 & T90B, plus the T30s.

Orca Network received a call from Matt Griffin of KATU TV News, Portland, saying they had received video of 3 or 4 orcas in Commencement Bay, possibly heading north this morning around 11 am, from KOMO TV.
We found the video on KOMO's website, as well as more video on KIRO TV's website, and sent the links to the Center for Whale Research. The orcas were confirmed by Dave Ellifrit to be the Transient orcas reported in Haro Strait over the past few days, and identified as T87, T88, T90 & T90B, plus the T30s.

T87

We left Transient orca T87 just off of Halibut Is., N. Haro St. at 4:45 heading toward Mandarte Is. going NW. I guess there were other Ts being heard on the hydrophones as we came in, but he was the only one that we were able to spot. We had found him a half an hour earlier just north of Kelp Reef. It was a big thrill for the family that was out with me. The daughter of the family wants to be a marine biologist, and was especially excited.
Capt. Jim Maya, Maya's Westside Charters, San Juan Island

Transients passing quietly

No calls but orcas nearby

We just had a group of four transients quietly head South through Blackney Passage!
Marie & Leah
26 Feb 2010 14:04:28 PST

Transients passing quietly

No calls but orcas nearby

We just had a group of 7 transients quietly heading North through Blackney Passage!
Marie & Leah
20 Feb 2010 10:28:02 PST

T030s, T172 & T14

Transient Orca T30 and a Harbor seal have a face off
(note seal's head above the water on left side of photo!)
Victoria, B.C., Feb. 17, 2010
Photo by Mark Malleson


The T030's and T172 (see photo above!) were off of Victoria all day again on February 17th. T014 was within a mile of them in the morning but continued on to the east and then north through Oak Bay in the afternoon (see photo above). Cheers,
Mark Malleson, Prince of Whales, Victoria B.C.

Transient orca
T14, "Pender"
Victoria, B.C.
Feb. 17, 2010
Photo by
Mark Malleson

Feb. 17
Transient orca T14, "Pender" off Victoria going East to Trial Island, 1117 today.
Ron Bates, MMRG, Victoria B.C.

Transients in JS

Distant calls audible.

We are hearing calls in Johnstone Strait!
Marie
19 Feb 2010 06:53:25 PST

No calls but orcas nearby

The calls from early this morning were transients! A group of 8-10 headed West in Johnstone Strait and went past Ledge Point at 0900 (thanks to Jackie, Bill/Donna and Alex for spotting them). Its another beautiful sunny calm day here on Hanson!
Marie & Leah
19 Feb 2010 11:00:20 PST

T060's and T02B

On the afternoon of February 16th I found the T060's and T02B south of Saltspring Island heading into Saanich Inlet. Thanks to Jeff of Emerald Sea Adventures for passing on an earlier report of KW's spotted westbound near Portland Island.

Mark Malleson, Prince of Whales, Victoria B.C.

T030s and T172

Feb. 14
We had our resident Transients the T030's with T172 again on the afternoon of February 14th near Race Rocks east bound. Good spotting Saltchuk!
Mark Malleson, Prince of Whales

T30s, T172

Transient orcas
T30A, T30B & T172
Race Rocks, B.C.
Feb. 8, 2010
Photo by
Mark Malleson

Feb. 8
I found the T030's and T172 (Transient orcas) on February 8th east bound south of Race Rocks in a resting formation @ 1445.
Mark Malleson, Prince of Whales, Victoria, B.C.

T30s with T172

Feb. 7
Had the T030's with T172 today (2/7) a few miles south of Victoria harbor. They were first spotted at 1045 and still there hunting seals at 1550.

T30s,T86As, T87s, T88, T90, T90b, T100s, T101s, T102, T172, T124As

Feb. 5
I found the big group of Transient orcas that have been around the past few days again today this time east bound in 3 groups near Race Rocks at 1430.
Mark Malleson, Prince of Whales, Victoria B.C.

Feb. 5
I hadn't been out on the water for about 2 weeks, started really missing being out there. So I decided to go out on a Prince of Whale trip with Mallard. Well what a day !!! We hit the mother lode of Transients (serious wrecking crew) as we found over 25 Transients just East of Race Rocks !!!! I.D.'s included: T-30's, T-86A's, T-87 with T-88, T-90 and T-90B, T-100's with new calf T-100E, T-101's with T-102, T-172, and the T-124A's with new calf T-124A4 !!! Absolutely brilliant day on the ocean - flat calm seas, sunny, warm and lots of whales.
Jeff Lamarche (Eagle Wing Tours - onboard Prince of whales with Mallard)

T110B & T110C tagged

Feb. 4
Brad Hanson of NOAA Fisheries NWFSC called with a report tonight. After receiving the call from Orca Network, they were able to get out in the NOAA boat and found the orcas in two groups in the vicinity of Point No Point, N. Kitsap Peninsula this afternoon, observing a sea lion kill. They were successful in deploying satellite tags on T100B & T100C, and will be posting maps of their movements on the Cascadia Research website in the next few days. They left the orcas at around 4:30 pm, the orcas were heading both north and south, so it's anyone's guess where they will show up tomorrow!

Feb. 4
Dick and I left the whales at 4.15 pm, still in two groups, one to the south of Foulweather Bluff, one to the north. Those 'at the south end' were in the vicinity of two boats (NOAA maybe?) and less distinct. Those 'at the north end' were making their way slowly north, and appeared to be foraging or milling with some breaching and spyhopping behavioural activity. Seeing the whales this afternoon made up for Marty and I missing them earlier while we were rooted to the spot on our 2-hour marine mammal observation duties at Ft Casey! (what dedicated volunteers we have!! sb)
Sandra Pollard & Dick Snowberger, Freeland, Whidbey Island

Feb. 4
Ivan Reiff of Western Prince whale watch called at 4:15 pm to report he had been flying from San Juan Island to Seattle, and timed it right to see the pod of orcas between Point No Point (N. Kitsap Peninsula) & Double Bluff (Whidbey Isl) at about 3:45 pm. There were ~10 north of Pt. No Point, and a few more south of Pt. No Point, and he observed them making a kill. The NOAA boat was with the whales.

Feb. 4
John Fortin of Hansville called to report 3 orcas between Foulweather Bluff and Bush Pt, including a male, a female and a calf at 3:45 pm. He reported 2 boats and the KOMO news chopper on site.

Feb. 4
This is Heather Hoins on Marrowstone - I just saw them (orcas) as well - 3:30 pm - they appear to be going in small circles - right smack in the middle of the shipping channel - I only saw 3 maybe 4 individuals and no male.
Heather also called in a report of 4 orcas, including 1 male, off S. Marrowstone at 11:58 am, heading south, nearing Foulweather Bluff.

Feb. 4
I have them (the orcas) at Double Bluff at 3:20. Looks like maybe a half dozen transients, including at least one juve?
John Herman

Feb. 4
After receiving a call from Rick Huey of orcas southbound in Admiralty Inlet, we headed over to Bush Pt. to see if we could find and ID them. At around 10:20 am we caught our first glimpse of the orcas - a male, 2 females and a calf midway down Marrowstone Island heading south. At 11:05 am another group of 4 - 5 came through, closer to the Whidbey side. At 11:07 we spotted more whales to the north heading our way! 11:15 am, we spotted 6 - 7 orcas just north of Bush Pt, circling & hunting close to the Whidbey side. 11:30 am, the last large group (we thought....) was heading south past Bush Pt.
At 11:45 am, ~6 orcas were in a resting line between Skunk Bay and Mutiny Bay, heading south. At 11:50 am, the last group was off Foulweather Bluff (~10+). At this point we estimated we'd seen 16 - 20 whales total.
Then, at noon, we saw 8+ blows way on the other side off Foulweather Bluff & the entrance to Hood Canal. At 12:15 pm we saw 6 blows off Foulweather Bluff - all whales seemed to be traveling south at a good pace, & were moving out of our line of sight, so we headed back home - after having observed 25+ orcas pass by! After viewing our photos and video, we were able to confirm our suspicions that this was the pod of 27 Transients observed off Victoria B.C. on Weds. What a thrill to get to see them all - a rare Transient Superpod!
Susan Berta & Howard Garrett, Orca Network, Whidbey Island

Feb. 4
Pat Scott of Bush Pt, Whidbey Island called to report 5 - 6 orcas, including 1 calf off Bush Pt, heading south toward Mutiny Bay at 10:25 am.

Feb. 4
Orca Network received a call from a woman reporting orcas off Lagoon Pt, Whidbey Island at 10:15 am heading south.

Feb. 4
Karen Edelblute called Orca Network at 9:56 am to report 4 orcas off N. Lagoon Pt., mid-channel, heading south toward Bush Pt.

Feb. 4
Rick Huey of Washington State Ferries called Orca Network at 9:15 am to report observing several orcas mid-channel off Marrowstone Island, heading south.
Rick called again at 10:30 am to report another group of 4 - 6 orcas heading past the haul out off Marrowstone Island, heading south, closer to the east side of Admiralty Inlet.

T100s with a new calf: T100E

Transient orcas
and new calf
S. of Race Rocks
Feb. 3, 2010
Photo by
Jeanne Hyde



New calf and T100s - Transient orcas
SE of Race Rocks, B.C.
Feb. 3, 2010
Photo by Marie O'Shaughnessy
Photo taken with zoom lens and cropped

Feb. 3
One just had to be out on the water this special day when it was reported that a big group of Transients were heading this way past Oak Bay, Victoria BC. Mark Malleson and Ken Balcomb were out there first in the morning, so by 2pm when the Prince of Whales zodiac, skippered by Mark, left the harbour I was wondering which direction those whales might be traveling and how much distance they had made. Luckily the exact location was known and we found them south and east of Race Rocks in American waters. It is always helpful to relocate with a couple of boats on scene. It was impressive to see so many Transients together. Initially, we found them in resting formation, and then doing what transients do best, Zig-Zagging all over. It was lovely to see a brand new calf with the T100's. Eventually we left them while they headed back east. It was an amazing sight to see so many transients together.
Marie, Orca-Magic, Prince of Whales, Victoria BC.

Feb. 3
Ken Balcomb of the Center for Whale Research called at 12:35 pm to report 20 - 25 Transient orcas in Oak Bay, Victoria. They observed at least 1 kill.

Feb. 3
5:51 am: very faint transient calls being heard on Lime Kiln hydrophones, San Juan Isl.
5:58 am: loud calls on OrcaSound now.
8:12 am : There they are again.
8:33 am: visual on Transient orcas going down - 4+ miles from shore 1+ m south of Kelp reef marker - visual of 4 fins up at same time.
Jeanne Hyde, San Juan Island




Feb. 3
7:40 am: The WHO_listener automatic detection started picking up orca calls at Lime Kiln at 4:21 this morning. By 5:03 the detections had shifted to OrcaSound where many calls were recorded up until 6:33.
Val Veirs, OrcaSound/The Whale Museum

Feb. 3
I am a new user of the hydrophone network, but this morning, from about 0910 to 0920 Eastern Time (0610 - 0620 Pacific time), I heard some echolocation coming from the hydrophones at both Lime Kiln and the OrcaSound hydrophone on San Juan Island. The calls were stronger at the OrcaSound hydrophone, not Lime Kiln, but came in stronger at Lime Kiln towards the end of my listening bout. I am not certain these are killer whales; like I said, I am a new listener and cannot identify everything I hear. But this is the first time I have ever heard anything of note on the hydrophone network, and I am excited about it. I would have listened longer, but had to go to work. Cheers,
John Rohrback

Feb. 3
Transient calls loud and clear on both Lime Kiln and OrcaSound hydrophones at 6:23 am.
Cathy Bacon, Marine Mammal Research Assistant

Feb. 3
0615 PST - ORCA'S LOUD AT LIME KILN.
Lon Brocklehurst

Feb. 3
Mark Malleson and I have made a preliminary review of our photos today (2/3) and it appears that there were 27 Transients, including the new calf of T100 which Graeme Ellis and Jared Towers have given the designation T100E. Great day!
Ken Balcomb, Center for Whale Research, San Juan Island

Transients calling in JS

Distant calls audible.

There were a short duration of calls and the whales have just gone quiet in Johnstone Strait.
Leah and Marie
03 Feb 2010 17:39:45 PST

Orcas near mics.

Transient calls in Johnstone Strait!
Helena
03 Feb 2010 18:04:49 PST

T30s and T172

T30s
West Vancouver Island
Jan. 26, 2010
Photo by Marie O'Shaughnessy

Jan. 26
Another wonderful trip with Prince of Whales Skipper, Mark Malleson this afternoon (1/26). We headed out west at 1pm, looking for the Transients that Mark has seen from his on shore look-out two hours earlier. We had to travel a fair ways out west to encounter these elusive animals, but there they were, just as Mark had hoped. The T 30's and T172 were Identified, five animals in total. Encountered approximately 3 miles south of Sheringham Lighthouse along the west coast of Vancouver Island. They were play hunting with a seal, without taking it down. They created some sizable swells around the seal, but the little seal kept bobbing along the surface. When they tired of their game they headed further out west. Most interesting behaviour. 2nd trip out in January for me, and we got lucky!
Marie, Orca-Magic, Prince of Whales.



Jan. 26
Saw them again today - T30s and T172 still cruising around the Strait of Juan De Fuca.
Kyla Graham, Victoria B.C.

T30s with T172

T30s and T172
Race Rocks & Victoria, B.C.
Jan. 25, 2010
Photo by Mark Malleson

Jan. 25
I spotted a small group of killer whales from the shorleline off of Victoria's waterfront at 11:30 today (1/25). Kyla Graham and myself went out to get an ID on them and found the T30's with T172 west bound at 1330, 2 miles south of Race Rocks. We left them milling at 1445, 5 miles south of Becher Bay. Thanks again to Gord Rowles for tracking them for us while we launched the boat.
Mark Malleson, Independent Tsearch, Victoria B.C.

T093, T097

Transient orcas
T97 and T93
Haro Strait
Jan. 13, 2010
Photo by
Dave Ellifrit,
Center for Whale Ressearch


Jan. 13
Had Transient orcas T093 and T097 again on Jan 13th off Victoria headed east (see photo). At 1230 I got a tip from a fisherman on Constance Bank of a single bull killing a seal. At 1345 I found them south of Discovery Island headed east for Middle Bank. Thanks to Gord for keeping track of them with the Big Eyes.
Mark Malleson, Prince of Whales, Victoria, B.C.

Jan. 13
Here's a continuation of Mark's sighting (above). I received a call from Mark Malleson around 1315 today of transients off Seabird Pt. heading east. I arrived on scene at 1420 and joined Mark who had T93 and T97 still heading easterly. Mark left soon afterwards and I stayed with the pair for another hour as they continued east in the great wide open on a line between Seabird Pt. on Discovery Island and Iceberg Pt. on Lopez Is. Other than one brief period of milling around 1526 (I could not confirm a kill here), they kept heading east at a slow to medium pace. I left them at 1537, closer to Hein Bank than Salmon Bank pointed toward Iceberg Pt.
Dave Ellifrit, Center for Whale Research, San Juan Island

Jan. 13
I received a call from Mark Malleson around 13:15 on the 13th reporting transients heading east off Seabird Pt. on Discovery Island. I departed Snug Harbor at13:40 and arrived on scene at 1420 (48 23.93N 123 08.22W) several miles ESE of Seabird Pt. where Malleson had T93 and T97 (two transient bulls) heading easterly at a medium speed. Malleson left soon afterward and I continued on with the pair as they traveled on alternating between a slow and medium pace. There was a brief period of milling at 1526 (48 23.76N 123 01.62W) by both whales but I could not confirm a kill. The whales continued traveling easterly at a medium speed and I ended the encounter at 15:37 (48 23.84N 123 00.72W) a couple of miles NE of Hein Bank.
Dave Ellifrit, Center for Whale Research
Click here for photos

T093, T097, T124C

Transient orcas
T93, T97 & T 124C
Sooke, B.C.
Jan. 12, 2010
Photo by Marie O'Shaughnessy


Jan. 12
I came across Transient orcas T097, T093 and T124C on the afternoon of January 12th east bound off of East Sooke Park (S Vancouver Island). I left them entering Race Passage at 1550hrs still east bound against a strong ebb current.
Mark Malleson, Prince of Whales, Victoria

Jan. 12
Another great winter trip today as Mallard found 3 Transients off of Secretary Island this afternoon. At Approximately 1440 hrs., I arrived on scene 0.5 nm South of Beechey Hd. (East Sooke Park) to find two large males, T-93 and T-97, respectively being escorted by a single female. (T-124C) The group of three were travelling consistently to the East at a good clip (4-6 kts.) During my stay with the animals, we saw two seal kills which T-124C made. All business and no play for this group; as we did not see any play behaviour or hear any vocals after they made the kills. We left the group at 1545 hrs. still headed East just inside Race Passage. Conditions today were foggy with light rain showers coupled with flat calm seas.
Jeff Lamarche, Eagle Wing Tours, Vctoria B.C.

T103

Transient orca T103
Sooke, B.C.
Jan. 5, 2010
Photo by
Mark Malleson
Jan. 5
I had (Transient orca) T103 on Jan 5 westbound past Sooke at 1400. The conditions were great for spotting and no sign of any others around.
Mark Malleson, Prince of Whales, Victoria B.C.

T063, T065B, T036, T036B, T028A

Transient orca T63
near Race Rocks
Jan. 3, 2010
Photo by
Mark Malleson

Jan. 3, 2010 Had more transients this afternoon south of Victoria west bound. T063 aka "Chainsaw" , T065B, T036, T036B, and T028A were among 8 or 9 individuals. Still working on the rest of the ID's. I left them south-west of Race Rocks at 1510.
Mark Malleson, Prince of Whales, Victoria B.C.

Jan. 3, 2010
I spent the morning with Mallard spotting for whales up at Ken's place. No luck though. However, on the afternoon tour Mallard found 3 Transients approx. 3nm South of VH (right off Victoria) !! After spending some time with these three individuals, I spotted 6 others a few miles Southeast of our location. Upon arrival, I confirmed T-63 (Chainsaw) with others. Tentative ID's were found to be T-63, T-65B, T-36, T-36B and T- 28A. Will confirm with Mark later once he looks at his photos. The nine animals tracked Southwest of Race Rocks and we left them at 1520 hrs. 2.7nm Southwest of lighthouse headed West. Had some people from Kobe Japan onboard that had never seen Orcas before. Brilliant day on the water.
Jeff Lamarche, Eagle Wing Tours, Victoria, B.C.

T31, T99s

Transient orca T31
Strait of Juan de Fuca
Jan. 2, 2010
Photo by Mark Malleson

Jan. 2, 2010
Had a large group of Transients on the afternoon of Jan 2 between Race Rocks and Port Angeles travelling quickly east bound. T31 was shadowing a group of 11 -13 females and juveniles which included the T99's.
Mark Malleson, Prince of Whales, Victoria, B.C.

Jan. 2, 2010
(continued from above report): Also right now, 2:08 pm, there is a "mother lode" of transients with Mallard south of Race Rocks inbound.
Ken Balcomb, Center for Whale Research, San Juan Island

Transients at Monterey

Transient orcas
Monterey Bay, CA
Jan. 2, 2010
Photo by
Kate Cummings

Jan. 2, 2010
My name is Kate and I am a deckhand for Sanctuary Cruises out of Moss Landing, CA. Today we spotted a group of 5 transient Orcas who had just killed a sea lion. We often saw the female with the jagged dorsal fin with parts of the carcass in her mouth. The pod was very active, swimming right along side the boat several times. One appeared to be doing "hand-stands"- frequently sticking its flukes straight out of the water. We often see this male, the one with half of a dorsal fin, near Moss Landing. It was a wonderful experience! We found them at: 36'47.3, 121'54.8. They stayed in the same general area from 11am, when we picked them up, until 12:15 when we headed in.
Kate Cummings, Monterey, CA


Transient orca CA219
plus un-IDd orca w/jagged fin
Monterey Bay, CA
Jan. 2, 2010
Photo by
Kate Cummings

Monterey Transient orca IDs from Alisa Schulman Janiger:
The photo here shows CA219 and another whale (jagged fin) that I cannot ID from this image. The only other images that I have of it were taken at sunset this year (no saddle detail); it is probably a known whale with a drastically altered dorsal fin shape.
The photo (from our Jan. 2nd Whale Report) shows CA217 (male) "Chopfin" or "Stumpy". Female on the left looks like CA216. We first saw these whales in 1998.
Very nice behavior shots!
Alisa Schulman-Janiger, California Killer Whale Project, ACS/LA Gray Whale Census and Behavior Project: Director