Orca

-102, ‘2010-06-02’, ‘Orca’, 2, ‘Two transient orcas were spotted this morning travelling westwards between Great Race and Middle Race. A number of whale watching boats were in pursuit.’, ‘adam’, ’14:45:33 ,

Census and orca

Orca: 2
Two transient orcas were spotted this morning travelling westwards between Great Race and Middle Race. A number of whale watching boats were in pursuit.
Elephant Seal: 3
Misery has been hauled up behind the boathouse for several days now, while Bertha is beside the fuel hose container. A small, young elly is NW of the Science House. She has a green tag that reads 4252 in her flipper.

Sad to report our first neck ring sighting this year. A juvenile California sea lion was hauled out with a group of ~9 other sea lions; its neck was constricted and lacerated by a ring of marine garbage. Given the numbers of California sea lions spotted here so far this season, this sighting fits the 1-2% entanglement rate observed here last fall.

Orcas outside

‘Orca’, 10, ‘There is something particularly special about sitting down at the kitchen table and literally hearing the whales outside. I ”ve been on the water before and heard the the heavy exhalations of a whale before spotting it, but to be on land inside a building is something else entirely. The group of 10 or more orcas were traveling N along the E edge of the reserve towards Victoria. There were two adult bulls, one with a very tattered dorsal fin. They were quite active, with some whales doing back flips and swimming upside down, flopping their tails on the surface.’,

‘Ryan’, ’14:31:09 ,

Transient orcas through the reserve.

Orca: 5, ‘The group of transients that has been in the area over the weekend came by the reserve in a near carbon copy of their Sunday route. The large male breached once while in the SE end of the reserve and 2-3 times S of the reserve. The group spent about 20 minutes criss-crossing around SE rocks in apparent feeding behaviour -tail slaps, etc.).’, ‘Ryan’, ’11:45:23 ,

Elephant Seal’, 7, ‘5 females were seen hauled out on Middle Rocks; they ranged from small juveniles to large adults. They join the 2 small females here on Great Race.’, ‘Ryan’, ’16:04:03 ,

Two Orca groups

Orca’, 2, ‘2-3 miles E of the reserve traveling south. Had boats from Washington, Vancouver and Victoria in pursuit.’, ‘Ryan’, ’15:11:46 ,
‘Orca’, 8, ‘About 30 minutes after the first group, these whales came through Race Passage and into the N part of the reserve heading E. Moving as two loose groups, I counted 2 males, 4-5 females and 2-3 calves.’, ‘Ryan’, ’15:14:03 ,