CWR encounter #89 with Bigg’s Killer Whales T60D+T60E

EncSummary: Mark left Victoria harbour at 0830 to take advantage of the perfect weather and survey the western Juan de Fuca Strait. He stopped in Race Passage for several minutes to watch numerous juvenile humpback whales lunge-feeding amongst the common murres and gulls before continuing west along the Vancouver Island shoreline. As he passed the entrance to Sooke Harbour he spotted a bull dorsal fin offshore, travelling west, and as he altered toward it could see several more spread-out animals, perhaps residents!

The initial bull he saw reappeared as Mark neared and began the encounter, and indeed, it was J27. J37 and her 4-year-old daughter, J59, were the next two seen. All of the whales were moving steadily westward and loosely spread out from approximately two to four nautical miles south of Otter Point. The newest addition to the pod, last year’s calf J63, was tucked alongside her mom, J40, who also had the 7-year-old J56 in tow. Over the next little while, Mark worked his way through the spread-out group and was able to confirm all of J pod was present. Minimal foraging was observed, and the whales remained spread and westbound throughout the encounter.