Transient Breach
Strait of Juan de Fuca
May 31, 2009
Photo by John Boyd
May 31
Well, once again the old saw of "just when you figure out orcas, they go and change things" held true yet again. For the most part, when we are viewing Transient (mammal feeding) orcas, you see a few fins (usually groups of 4- 6) every now and then as they pass through the area. IF you get lucky, you may even witness Transients feeding. Well, today was anything but "typical." We heard that there was a group of Transients in the Strait of Juan de Fuca near the Romeo marker, so we were happy to hear we had whales in the area. As we left the dock, we heard that it was actually a large group of Transients, numbering between 14-20. Wow! We arrived about 6 miles north of Sequim at 1320 and slowly approached the area the whales were sighted. The perfectly glassy calm water made spotting the whales very easy, and we shut down about 450 yards from the group. Amazingly--they were in a definite resting pattern, with all 14 whales slowly rising to the surface in unison in a tight, contact pattern. This went on for about 15 minutes until one of the whales decided "nap time" was over. Then the whales began zig-zagging in what appeared to be a random pattern, breaking into smaller groups and then coalescing into a big group again. Soon the Transients were spy-hopping, tail slapping, and then a swirl of water around 3-4 whales--followed by a bunch of seagulls swarming the area. They had made a stealthy kill, and we can only guess it was a porpoise as there were dozens in the area. This was followed by several breaches!! And for only the 3rd time in 12 years--I witnessed whales swimming backwards four times! It always catches me off-guard to see a dorsal fin going backwards! No vocalizations, but amazing to see Transients so active! We left the scene at 1410 as the whales continued heading easterly. A truly spectacular day!
John Boyd (JB), SSAMN Marine Naturalist, Western Prince, Friday Harbor
May 31
Mark Malleson of Prince of Whales called to relay a report of a large group of 18 Transients in the Strait of Juan de Fuca - the T30's, T100's, T101's, T124's, T90 & T90B. They followed them as they headed east, leaving them at 4:30 pm off Pt. Wilson, still heading east.
May 31
Ken Balcomb & Emma Foster of the Center for Whale Research had 3 other Transient orcas: T12A, T109A, & T109A2, south of Discovery Island at 11 am, heading west. (see photo below)
May 31
Hi Susan and Howie, A pod of orcas went past Pt No Pt (N. Kitsap Peninsula) from 8-8:45 pm this evening 5/31/09. Two whales were seen at around 8pm by beach walkers and then a second group came by around 8:30pm. There was at least one large male and 3-4 females in the second group. They were travelling south towards Kingston. The second pod hung out about ¼ mile past the lighthouse at Pt No Pt and did some breaching and tail lobs. A tug was following them and possibly you might get some photos from the folks on the tug, unfortunately I was without a camera this evening.
Patty Michak, MarineView Fisheries Consulting, Inc., Hansville
May 31
Bev Wenthin of Bush Pt. called to report 3 orcas just north of Bush Pt. at 6:32 pm, heading south. They were between mid-channel & the far side of Admiralty Inlet.
May 31
Sunday, May 31 about 2PM we were attracted by a large number of boats of all sizes off Partridge Point Sunday afternoon. Apparently, the fishing in the Sound is good at the moment. When I noticed that there were some large party boats and whale watchers in the group as well as one of the Prince of Whales vessels from Victoria, I took a look with the spotting scope and sure enough, there was a pod of Orcas doing a little fishing as well. They were probably 10-15 miles offshore from where I am near Partridge Point, so there wasn't a lot of see from my vantage point, but the male's dorsals were unmistakable even from afar. Regards,
Cameron Chandler, Coupeville
Transient Orcas & Mt. Baker
T12A, T109A, & T109A2
May 31, 2009
Discovery Island, BC
Photo by
Emma Foster,
Ctr. for Whale Research
(see report above)
May 31
This majestic bull T12A (see below) was out there yesterday, May 31st, keeping company with T 109A and T109A2. We had good looks of the three of them slowly heading out west. He has a Dorsal fin rather like Ruffles, full of nice waves. We encountered them just south of Trail Island and they were in a resting pattern with very long dives. Conditions on the water fantastic. Photo cropped.
Marie O'Shaughnessy, Orca-Magic, Prince of Whales
Transient Orca T12A
May 31, 2009
Discovery Island, BC
Photo by
Marie O'Shaughnessy
May 31
Ken Balcomb and Emma Foster of the Center for Whale Research encountered 3 transients while in route from Victoria, B.C. to San Juan Island. T109A and calf T109A2 were traveling with T12A.
Center for Whale Research
