KICKING OFF THE 2022 SEASON WITH THE RUNAWAYS
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A visit from the Bigg’s Killer Whales T109A’s and T109B’s near Tofino, British Columbia.
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TOFINO WHALE WATCHING BLOG
A Visit From the T068C's
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A visit from the Bigg’s Killer Whales T068C’s in the Tofino Harbour on March 31, 2021.
Read MoreBack in Tofino: Bigg's Killer Whales T109B's, T109C's and Lone Bull T065A2
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Yesterday was a great day for Killer Whale sightings for our guides in Tofino! In the morning Howie Tom picked up the T109B’s and T109C’s at Cleland Island. These two gangs spent the afternoon slowly making their way to Lennard Light eating many seals along the way. These two gangs are the offspring of T109 (aka Big Momma) and are frequent visitors to Clayoquot Sound.
Read MoreBig Momma! Transient Killer Whale T109 in Tofino!!
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Big Momma! T109 (born in the mid 1970’s) is a frequent visitor to Clayoquot Sound. This matriarch is a mother to 4 daughters and 1 son plus Grandmother/Great Grandmother to 13 offspring. She was in Tofino yesterday with T109D, T109D1 and T109E. Yesterday was our first encounter with her since T109B and T109C split off with their offspring.
Read MoreFinally! The T109A's come back to Clayoquot Sound with T097!
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This morning John and I were going to head out to try and photograph Blue Sharks but our plans changed when we got word that there were 9 Bigg’s Killer Whales off Lennard Light. The T109A’s, now a gang of eight, were back! They had not been photographed in our waters since winter. This gang is locally known as The Runaways and they are frequent visitors to the Tofino area. The gang had a bull with them today. T097, who was born in 1980, has only been photographed in our area once in 2011. We were excited to photograph a new to us Killer Whale and use the new DFO Photo-Identification catalogue! The Killer Whales spent most of the day slowing moving up the coast killing several seals along the way.
Read MoreBIGG'S KILLER WHALES: T075B's, T075C's and T037A1 were in Tofino the past two days!
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Yesterday we got word that 6 Killer Whales were making their way into Templar Channel. We met up with the Killer Whales as they were making their way through the Channel into the Tofino Harbour. They swam through the harbour and up Browning Passage. We identified the whales as the T075B, T075B2, T075B3, T075C, T075C1 and T037A1. They were last seen last night in the Bedwell.
Read MoreSRKW - New Calf with J Pod
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Yesterday we got word from Tim (The Whale Centre) and Jeffrey Tom (Jamie’s) that there were Killer Whales 4 miles off Lennard Light. John and I headed out on the Lil Salty to go out and see who the whales were. We got on scene and determined that the whales were in fact J pod. All whale watching companies made the call to stop watching the whales once they knew they were in fact SWKW.
Read MoreAre the T023's the new locals?
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A big shout out to Captain Chris McCue from Jamie’s Whaling Station for picking up the T023’s coming into the Tofino Harbour yesterday. It was a windy and choppy afternoon so the Killer Whales in calm waters were a real treat for everyone. John and I caught up with the Motley Crew gang (all of them: Janice and the C’s and D’s) in Browning Passage. We left them last night at the entrance to Gunner.
Read MoreA Quick Glimpse of Killer Whales T117 and T120
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Yesterday we got word that there were two Bigg’s Killer Whales heading up the coast off Cleland Island. Jamie’s Whaling Station was on scene and said there was a male bull and a female traveling quickly up the coast. We headed out in the Eco. These whales were traveling at 10 knots so we caught up with them off of Hot Springs Cove. T120 (born 1986) was with his mother T117 (born T117). We were able to capture a few photo ID’s of both whales and then we let them go. They were on a mission!
Read MoreAnother Day with Motley Crew - T023 Killer Whales in Tofino!
/Another day with the whole family! First we got word that T023 and the T023D’s were back in the Bedwell this morning, right where we left them last night. John and I headed out in Lil’ Salty at 9:45 to the back side of Meares Island. When we arrived on scene the gang of Transient Killer Whales had just made a kill and were on the move heading out towards Rant Point.
Read MoreBiggs Killer Whales - More of the T023's
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A few days ago we had a visit from the Bigg’s Killer Whales T023C’s. Yesterday we had a report of Killer Whales at Indian Island. John and I jumped into the Eco and went up to have a look. We met up with the whales traveling at Windy Bay with Howie on the Goolka. T023 and T023D’s booked it out Browning Passage and through the Tofino Harbour, then headed out past Lennard Light and down the coast. We observed T023D with her two calves plus the matriarch Janice, aka T023.
Read MoreA Rare Visit from the T050s Killer Whales near Tofino!
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On Thursday evening we got a report that there were Killer Whales off Hippie Point. John and Howie headed out in the Eco at 5:30 pm. They came across a gang of Transient Killer Whales between Monks and Hippie Point. They followed the whales to Saranac Island and then back to Roberts Point. The T050’s were spy hopping and traveling. They spent about an hour with these Killer Whales. Tim on the Hootka Kootla was on his way back from Hot Springs Cove and was able to get a few looks of the gang too!
We don’t see the T050’s often in Tofino. The last time we photographed them was October 2015. This gang like to work the inlets and have been successful hunters while visiting Tofino. These Killer Whales are more frequently seen in Alaskan waters.
Read MoreKiller Whales up Tofino Inlet (T023C's)
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The T023C Killer Whales make an appearance in Tofino today!
Early this morning I was drinking my tea and getting ready for a busy Saturday when I got a text from our Guide Tim Tom that a gang of Killer Whales were passing his window at Opitsaht. All my Saturday plans changed. John and I headed down to the Eco to set out up Browning Passage to find them. Tim had jumped into his boat and was with the T023C’s when we arrived on scene. We followed the orcas up Browning Passage, into Tofino Inlet where they led us up Tranquil. Along the way they tangled with a sea lion but left it alone after a few breaches.
The T023C’s have broken off from T023’s, aka Motley Crew. T023C was born in 1990 and she appears to have three calves (born in 2009, 2013 and a new one that looks like it was born in the last year or more.
The last time we saw the T023C’s was in May 2016 and they were still with the Matriarch T023. They all took the same path of coming through the Tofino Harbour and headed up Tofino Inlet.
Both the morning and afternoon Whale Watching Tours were able to get out to see the Killer Whales!
Read MoreSouthern Resident Killer Whales - K Pod was here!
/We had the Southern Resident Killer Whales K Pod on all our Whale Watching Tours yesterday! I manifested orcas the night before because I knew we had guests on board who really, really wanted to see Killer Whales. The whales were picked up coming down the coast near Hot Springs Cove and we were able to see them off Cleland Island. John and I knew they were SRKW but we were not sure which pod they were. We don't see these whales very often! We were able to get some photo identification shots with our permit. The killer whales were last seen traveling down the coast, likely back to the Salish Sea!
Afterwards we sent the photos to Ken Balcomb at the Centre for Whale Research in Washington state. He confirmed they were K Pod! With only 18 members, K Pod is the smallest of the three pods in the Southern Resident Killer Whale community. The oldest female in K pod is K12, estimated to have been born in 1972. K pod has three mature males, K21, and K26, and K25. The most recent calf born into K pod is K44 (male, born 2011), the first known calf of K27.
As with most marine mammals, their movements are determined by their food source. For the Southern Residents, this means following the salmon returning to the Fraser River in British Columbia every summer. In the winter, when Chinook salmon are less abundant, they must expand their range to find food.
SRKW Status: Endangered. Designated endangered in Canada in 2001, USA in 2005.
Please note that when we are photographing killer whales with our permit we do not have paying guests on board and we send our photo IDs to DFO, Strawberry Isle Marine Research Society and the Center for Whale Research.
Northern Resident Killer Whales A34's off Tofino
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On Sunday morning John and I heard reports on the radio of a large group of killer whales off Lennard Light. We jumped into the boat and headed out off the Glory Hole to meet up with the fleet and the whales. We knew this large group of killer whales were not Transient Killer Whales but likely Northern Resident Killer Whales. The last time we had Northern Residents in Tofino on a whale watching tour was the H5's in August 2014. We spent some time photographing them. Our Tofino Whale Watching Tours and our Hot Springs Tour were able get some good looks at these killer whales as they made their way up the coast past Tofino. The NRKW we saw yesterday day were the A12 Matriline (A34's) and this was a first meeting for us since we have been document killer whale sightings in our area!
Read MoreSouthern Resident Killer Whales - J Pod near Tofino
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Southern Resident Killer Whales sighted near Tofino on June 8th, 2018.
Read MoreA Visit from the U073 Killer Whales of Lennard Lighthouse Near Tofino
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On Thursday, March 29th we got word that there was a group of Transient Killer Whales off Lennard Lighthouse near Tofino. Our afternoon Whale Watching Tour was able to get some good looks at about 8 killer whales. John and I decided to head out on the Eco to get some photos ID's to see who they were. When we arrived on scene we immediately recognized the T068's with about 6 other killer whales.
Read MoreA Night with the T069's off Vargas Island
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Whale Watching near Tofino, British Columbia on Vancouver Island.
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