CWR | First encounter of the 2026 outer coast research trip

EncSummary: The team left McKay Bay Lodge in Bamfield in both boats, “KCB3” and “Mike 1”, at 0655. We headed southwest out of Barkley Sound before turning southeast towards Swiftsure Bank. “KCB3” took the inside line, and “Mike 1” took a line that would take Mark and Joe about four miles west of “KCB3”. The two boats stayed in radio contact and made several coordinated hydrophone drops along the way. Neither boat heard anything on any of the hydrophone drops. To complicate matters, the fog came down, and visibility was severely limited. Both boats reached the end of their lines at their waypoints on Swiftsure Bank. The fog was thick, and the swell was getting bigger, so we decided to take “KCB3” back inshore towards the Clo-oose grounds near Nitinat Lake. As we headed back to within a few miles of shore, southeast of Nitinat Lake, the fog lifted some, and we could at least see the shoreline.

Not long after breaking into the relative clear, Michael spotted the dorsal fin of a killer whale, and the encounter began at 1038. This whale was J27, and he was foraging by himself and pointed west. Right after we had found J27, “Mike 1” found J38 somewhere in the gloom to the northwest of us, and they began finding J pod whales we wouldn’t see that day. Not too far away from J27, J44 showed up and was foraging by himself. A little up island, we found the J37s. They were loosely spread out but soon came together in a tight threesome. After photographing the J37s, we moved offshore some and found J26. J22 was also in the area, and then J16 showed up too. After these three, we found J47, who at that time was the only whale Mark and Joe had seen that we had also seen. We had only spotted “Mike 1” once or twice in the gloomy lighting as they worked J pod whales we never saw. Next, after J47, we found J49 a bit more inshore again, and he was carrying a salmon. J37 and J59 soon joined him again, and they probably shared the fish. Next, we found J26 again, this time heading southeast down island. J26 did three belly flops. After we left J26, we found J44 again, and his younger sister J53 joined him. The last whale we saw was J27, and he was pointed southeast when we ended the encounter at 1301, not far from where we began it.