Center for Whale Research encounters J Pod out in Boundary Pass

||| FROM THE CENTER FOR WHALE RESEARCH |||

• Date: 05-Sep-21
• Sequence: 1
• Encounter Number: 63
• Enc Start Time: 15:26
• Enc End Time: 17:56
• Vessel: Orcinus
• Observers: Dave Ellifrit, Michael Weiss, Charli Grimes
• Pods or ecotype: J Pod
• Location: Boundary Pass
• Begin Lat/Long: 48 46.189 N/123 02.835 W
• End Lat/Long: 48 41.401 N/123 12.835 W

Encounter Summary:

In the early afternoon, Dave got word from the SR3 research team that J pod was approaching East Point from the north, after foraging by the mouth of the Fraser River for several days. At 14:42, the team left Snug and headed north towards Boundary Pass. The team arrived on scene with the whales south of East Point at 15:26.

The whales were very spread out, and headed down Boundary Pass. Several small groups were close to shore, with other groups and singles spread well across the pass. The first whale the team encountered was J39, apparently foraging on his own. The team next encountered adult male J26, who soon joined up with a group composed of other J16s, J16 and J36, along with J31 and young daughter J56. This group was fairly surface active, with some breaches and very impressive cartwheels from J26.

The team then moved southwest of this group, moving towards the leaders. They found J46 and J53 foraging together a ways ahead, and further towards the front the found J27 travelling with J31 and J56, with J40 nearby. Quite a way down the pass from these whales, near Blunden Island, were the J35s. J35 and J57 travelled close together, with J47 quite a ways off shore of them. J44 was photographed travelling ahead of these whales on his own.

The team kept working their way to the front of the group. As they began to near Turn Point, they found the J19s working a tide line. Another whale was photographed nearby, who turned out to be J36, who had made her way to the front of the group while the team was with other sets of whales. The whales began to pick up speed, and J36 joined in closer to the J19s. Other groups of whales came porpoising towards Turn Point from behind the team, including J47, J16, and J42. J42 was one of two whales that the team had not photographed during their previous encounter in the Strait of Georgia. As J16 and the others continued towards Turn Point, J42 took a moment to mill near the research vessel before continuing on her way.

The team stayed with the group for a while, but soon let them get ahead so they could photograph the rest of the pod as they passed by. They once again encountered J39 as he passed on his own. He was followed by a large, tight group of porpoising whales, made up of the J22s, the J37s, the J31s, and J40. This gave the team a chance to photograph the other whale they had not found in their previous encounter, J22. The team left the whales at 17:56 as they continued to porpoise southwest towards Turn Point.