Tag Archives: Orca

Curious 2 of 3

Killer Whale Visiting

Yes that is the edge of the boat in the lower right corner of the photograph. And this is another curious mammal an orca or killer whale. The whale watching guidelines require that we stay 100 meters (yards) from the orca and we were until this female came over to the boat and swam around and under us several times. We were fortunate that the warden (whale watching police that enforces the guidelines) was not far from our boat at the time of the occurrence and had not just arrived to see it happen. We talked with the warden after and both agree that we must have stopped over a school of salmon and this orca was fishing.

 

Orca spyhopping

Killer whale spyhopping

In a good spyhop the orca / killer whale has about half of it’s body out of the water. This is more of an orca backstroke where it was passing the boat and rolled over and stuck it’s head out of the water. The description of what is happening is not important because the picture is interesting and unique.

 

 

Confusing orca photo

Orca?

These two orca / killer whales passed under our boat and surfaced a few meters (yards) away. Explanation: looking at the photo their appears to be a dorsal fin at the top of the photo but it cannot be from the main orca because that would mean it was coming out of it’s belly. The belly of an orca is white and it is possible to see the tip of the tail at the end of the photo. So it could be one orca diving over the back of another or the dorsal fin could be the tail of another orca and the second one is following too close. Either way it was close.

 

 

Everybody gets a Killer Whale

research vessele

The above photo shows an orange zodiac very close to the orca and this is permissible if you are a research vessel however it should be flying a “research” flag. The photo below shows what happens if you wait patiently in the right place, the killer whales come to you.

Killer whales close

 

 

 

Orcalab – What is it?

Resident male orca

A male and female orca / killer whlaes passing close to the boat in Blackfish Sound. Blackfish is the native name for orca. In the background one can see the building of OrcaLab. From their website at http://orcalab.org/:

“The work of OrcaLab is centred on the philosophy that it is possible to study the wild without interfering with lives or habitat. A network of hydrophones, positioned around the orcas’ “core habitat”, helps us monitor their movements all year round. Supplementing the acoustic data are visual sightings of orcas as they pass OrcaLab, and reports from land observation sites staffed by OrcaLab volunteers during the summer “season”, as well as reports from other researchers and whale watchers who share observations and information.”

If you go to OrcaLabs second website at “www.orca-live.net/” and click on “OrcaLive” then click on the map “The Hanson Island area” you have a view of the area where Grizzly Bear Lodge does their whale watching.

 

 

Killer Whales pod A30

Killer Whale Pod

If you have time to refer to the posting of June 16th this is again the resident killer whale pod A30 with A72 the last orca with a notch in her dorsal fin.  The guest in the corner of the photo provides a little perspective for the closeness of the orca. On the lodges whale watching safaris we are on the water 7 to 8 hours which allows us time to position ourselves for a number of good pictures of the wildlife we view. The whale watching tours view marine wildlife such as killer whales, humpback whales, dolphins, porpoise, harbour seals, Steller sealions, occasionally minke whales, a wide variety of waterfowl, bald eagles, and frequently black bear as we travel to and from the lodge.

 

 

Northern resident A72

Orca A72

If you Google “orca A72” and go into  “A30 matriline – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia” you will learn about all about Bend (born 1999). Bend is a young female and has a distinctive cut at the middle of her dorsal fin, the cause of which is not known. Above photo.

The orca pod often viewed on our tours is the A30.  A30 matrilineal is the name given to the most commonly seen orca matriline in British Columbia. The matriline was present in over 60% of all of the encounters in the Johnstone Strait region, making it one of best known matrilines. The group’s size has increased, from 6 in the mid-1970s to 10 as of 2013, including 4 calves. It is most frequently seen in Johnstone Strait from late spring to early fall, often traveling with other pods of the Northern Resident Community. The second photo shows this pod minus the three adult males which were in the area but not traveling with the family. Note A72 is the fifth one in the photo.
Orca Pod

 

 

 

 

 

 

Killer Whale Breathing

Killer Whale Surfacing

 

 

An interesting sequence of photos taken on a whale watching day in the Johnstone Strait. This area is a fifty-minute boat ride from Grizzly Bear Lodge, a time spent looking for black bear, bald eagles, dolphins and enjoying the morning scenery. The photo above shows an orca just breaking water and starting to exhale as shown by the bubbling water marking the start of the blow. The photo below the final exhale and then breathing in before it disappears.

Killer whale breathing

 

 

 

Male Resident Killer Whale

Male killer whale

Male because of the large dorsal fin as the species shows considerable size difference between males and females. Adult males develop larger pectoral flippers, dorsal fins, tail flukes, and girths than females. Resident because the dorsal fin is rounded at the tip and curved and tapering while the transient is shorter and sharper. The other key reason that this is a resident is that it is coming close to the boat while transients are less curious and will not approach a boat.

 

 

Killer Whales Dorsal Fin – Collapsed

Killer whale

A wild orca often travels far, and quickly, in deep water. The water provides pressure to the fin, keeping the tissues inside healthy and straight, and encouraging the dorsal fin to remain straight. However, it is not impossible for a wild orca’s dorsal fin to collapse or become bent. A study in 1998 of killer whales in New Zealand showed a relatively high rate (23%) of collapsing, collapsed, or even bent or wavy dorsal fins, and noted that this was higher than that observed in populations in British Columbia or Norway. It has been found from a well-studied group of wild killer whales (the ones in our viewing area) off the coast of British Columbia that the total rate of dorsal fin collapse is around 1%.  This is only the second collapsed fin I have seen in ten years.  Researchers have theorized that dorsal fin collapse in wild whales may be due to age, stress or altercations with other killer whales.