EncDate:21/12/23 

EncSeq:1

Enc#:78

ObservBegin:11:07 AM

ObservEnd:12:22 PM

Vessel:Mike 1

Staff:Mark Malleson

Other Observers:Joe Zelwietro, Brendon Bissonnette

Pods:J

LocationDescr:Race Rocks

Start Latitude:48 20.16

Start Longitude:123 27.88

End Latitude:48 17.27

End Longitude:123 34.29

 

EncSummary:

Mark, Joe and Brendon departed Victoria just before 1100 for a Juan de Fuca survey on an unseasonably warm winter solstice in calm seas. Just south of Constance Bank they came across a large, spread group of killer whales travelling southwest. Knowing Resident killer whales had been acoustically detected off East Point the previous evening, and given recent encounters with K and L pod killer whales, they had expected J pod to be near.
They began the encounter at 1107 and confirmed their suspicion when J41 and her youngster J58 broke the surface just west of the J22s. J19 and J51 surfaced with J41 and J58, and J37 and her two offspring were between the two groups, and the four J16s soon arrived from the northeast; all of the whales were making good way toward the south end of Vancouver Island, perhaps anticipating the imminent change to ebb current in Race Passage. The guys paced the whales that way for a few minutes, documenting many of the 25-member pod. This is the first time CWR has encountered J pod in over a month. J49 is showing signs of sprouting, his 11-year-old dorsal fin noticeably more prominent than when he was observed in the summer. Apart from some intermittent tail-lobs and breaches, the pod continued their spread travel until nearing Race Rocks. 
As the whales approached the Rocks, they grouped together and eased through the park in a quick six minutes, passing south of North Race Rocks! As often as Southern Residents transit the Juan de Fuca, it is rare to see more than one or two individuals opt to go through the reserve; to watch the entire pod choose this path was quite the privilege! J27 was the sole animal not in the tight group of 24, but quickly closed the 300 metre gap to catch his cohort as they cleared West Race Rocks and dove, aiming offshore toward the middle of the Strait.
The Mike 1 crew idled along near the whales for the subsequent breath sequence, wondering if the whales would fan out again and begin foraging. After a few minutes with no change in behaviour and each individual documented, they opted to end the encounter at 1222 and carry on west, leaving J pod angling southwest for the Olympic coast west of Crescent Bay. With this encounter, and those on the 17th and 19th, CWR has encountered all of the Southern Resident community but the L12 subgroup within the last week.

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