EncDate:22/03/23 

EncSeq:1

Enc#:11

ObservBegin:08:12 AM

ObservEnd:08:55 AM

Vessel:Mike 1

Staff:Mark Malleson

Other Observers:Brendon Bissonnette

Pods:Transients

LocationDescr:Victoria Harbor

Start Latitude:48 25.19

Start Longitude:123 23.60

End Latitude:48 24.15

End Longitude:123 24.81

 

EncSummary:

At 0640, Mark received a report from a neighbour that some killer whales had passed by Harling Point at 0640 and was heading west for Victoria Harbour. He met Brendon at Mike 1, and they left the dock at 0803. While taxiing out of the inner harbour, Mark received another report that the whales had been re-sighted, this time inside the mouth of the outer harbour. Upon rounding the marker at Shoal Point, Mark and Brendon spotted the dorsal fin of a large bull abeam of McLoughlin Point, and the encounter began at 0812.

 

The first whale to surface was T049C, a 25-year-old bull with a history of visiting Victoria's harbour. Moments later, a sprouter surfaced nearby, and Brendon identified him as T049A2, the 16-year-old nephew of T049C. This pair has been observed traveling together on several occasions in the past and had recently been sighted the day before heading west in the San Juan Islands. 

 

On March 13th, CWR staff observed T049A2 with his older brother, T049A1, heading north past Ten Mile Point (see Encounter 9)/

 

Over the course of the next couple of surfacings, the two whales began angling east towards the Ogden Point cruise ship terminal, situated next to Victoria harbour's breakwater. Mike 1 trolled over to join them as a few gulls flocked to the previous location of the whales, suggesting that a successful predation had likely taken place and they were prey sharing as they crossed to the east side of the harbour. T049A2 and T049C briefly investigated the cruise ship terminal before doubling back and rounding the end of the breakwater. T049A2 emerged in a large spyhop once the pair had pushed slightly offshore. The team spotted blood in the water at 0846 and watched as the two whales made short work of a second presumed seal kill. 

 

After shadowing the whales ~1 nm to the southwest of the breakwater, Mark and Brendon decided to end the encounter at 0857, leaving T049A2 and T049C on a southwesterly track towards Race Rocks.

 

* The pair were later observed making it slightly northeast of Race Rocks before they turned back towards Victoria harbour, headed east along Victoria's waterfront, and turned north through Oak Bay before turning back south on their reciprocal heading when they were slightly north of Ten Mile Point.

Joe last saw them from shore at ~ 1922 near the entrance to Victoria's harbour.