BIGG'S KILLER WHALES: T075B's, T075C's and T037A1 were in Tofino the past two days!

BIGG'S KILLER WHALES: T075B's, T075C's and T037A1 were in Tofino the past two days!

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.

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SRKW - New Calf with J Pod

SRKW - New Calf with J Pod

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.

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Are the T023's the new locals?

Are the T023's the new locals?

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.

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A Quick Glimpse of Killer Whales T117 and T120

A Quick Glimpse of Killer Whales T117 and T120

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!

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Another 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.

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Biggs Killer Whales - More of the T023's

Biggs Killer Whales - More of the T023's

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.

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A Rare Visit from the T050s Killer Whales near Tofino!

A Rare Visit from the T050s Killer Whales near Tofino!

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.

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Killer Whales up Tofino Inlet (T023C's)

Killer Whales up Tofino Inlet (T023C's)

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!

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TOFINO BEAR WATCHING TOURS

TOFINO BEAR WATCHING TOURS

Our Bear Watching Tours for 2019 will start up mid-April from Tofino. The Black Bears will be waking up from winter hibernation hungry and looking to forage on the coastline. Vancouver Island has the highest density of black bears in North America, and a total estimated population of 12,000. 

Unlike whale watching, which ventures out on the open ocean's waves, bear watching is done from covered vessel with a viewing deck, or open Boston Whaler boat on the calm inside waters in and around Tofino Inlet. This is where black bears can be witnessed at low tide, as they approach the shore on their quest for nutritious shore crabs by turning over beach boulders and rocks. 

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TOFINO'S HOT SPRINGS COVE: How to have this West Coast experience

TOFINO'S HOT SPRINGS COVE: How to have this West Coast experience

Hot Springs CoveHot Springs Cove lies 26 nautical miles up the coast from Tofino at Maquinna Provincial Park. For thousands of years, natural thermal hot springs have poured out of the rocks and spilled out on the edge of the Pacific Ocean in Northern Clayoquot Sound.

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Southern 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. 

Southern Resident Killer Whales, K Pod, Tofino
Tofino Whale Watching Tour 
Tofino Whale Watching Tour 

Vancouver Island Wolves

Coastal Wolves move like ghosts along the shorelines. One of the shyest and most elusive creatures on Vancouver Island. Living in packs from five to twenty, the wolves usually stay away from human activity. Individual wolves in a pack play different roles in relation to the others in the group. The parent wolves are the leaders of the pack - the alpha male and alpha female. The alpha male and female are the oldest members of the pack and the ones with the most experience in hunting, defending territory, and other important activities.
The other pack members respect their positions and follow their leadership in almost all things, The alpha wolves are usually the ones to make decisions for the pack when the group should go out to hunt or move from one place to another. Vancouver Island’s wolves are a variety of grey wolf, Canis lupus, known as coastal wolves or sea wolves. Smaller than most grey wolves (though a large male may still weigh 40 kilograms, about the size of an Alaskan malamute), they have shorter, coarser coats that often have reddish or golden tones as well as shades of white, black and grey. As a wide ranging top predator, habitat destruction is the primary threat to these wild animals. We rarely see these wolves foraging alone the shoreline for chiton and other seafood that may wash up. The wolves have a unique relationship with the coastal First Nations peoples, for whom the wolf is considered as a revered animal treated with admiration and respect. Historically, the Nuu-chah-nulth have had a strong ceremonial culture, characterised by feasting and entertainment with song, dance, contests and potlatches. The Wolf Ritual, which took place in the winter, was a particularly elaborate celebration of a general secret society that aimed to teach people about heroism, life and death, and the teachings of the elders. The estimated 250 wolves on Vancouver Island are not protected. 

We do not see wolves often on our tours but when we do it is a gift. 

Photo Credit: Jennifer Steven

Vancouver Island Wolf, Tofino

Northern Resident Killer Whales A34's off Tofino

Northern Resident Killer Whales A34's off Tofino

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!

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Bear Cub Rescue near Tofino

On Friday, May 25th we were notified that Hot Springs Tour Boat Guides spotted a deceased black bear sow in Ross Pass. They reported that there was a cub with the black bear's body. John, Michelle from Strawberry Isle Marine Research Society and myself jumped into the Eco and headed up to have a look. We arrived in Ross Pass around 5:00 PM and saw a Black Bear laying on a cliff not moving and a tiny cub laying on the mother black bear. We anchored the boat and John headed up to have a look. The black bear was laying on the ground with no visible trauma or wounds. You could see that the cub had been breastfeeding on the mother after she had died. John looked for the cub and it was hiding in a hole beneath him. He tied to pick it up but it was spooked and climbed a tree. We got back in the boat and moved off to see if it would come down. It did. We tried again to get the orphaned cub but it went back up another tree. We were going to loose light and made the hard decision to come back in the morning. We were all worried that predators would take the cub in the night. 

John and I woke up at 5:30 am. We launched the Lil Salty and headed up to Ross Pass. When we arrived on scene I told John that I would put the boat up to the island and he should jump off and quietly creep up to the cub. If it was still there. Within minutes we could see the cub moving and laying on its dead mother. John quietly walked up to the mother's body to pick up the cub. It saw him and moved into the hole. He patiently waited for it to come back out to lay on its mother. It did and he was able to pick it up and carry it back to the boat. It was screaming. My heart was breaking listening to its screams but I knew this was its only chance to survive. 

The cub was distressed and looked thirsty. John fed the cub some water and checked it over. The cub was so adorable! We brought a pet crate to transport the cub back to Tofino. John put towels over it to keep it dark and it was quiet on the boat ride back. We took the cub back to our house and called the conservation office and the North Island Wildlife Recovery Centre. Plans were made for us to meet a conservation officer in Port Alberni so he could transport the cub to the North Island Wildlife Recovery Centre. 

We have had updates that the cub is doing well, feeding and being checked by a vet. We hope to adopt the cub and help pay for her expenses while she is in the centre. Eventually she will be released back here when she is ready to be on her own in the wild. We are elated that we could help make a difference. We make our living off of Bear Watching in Tofino so we will always give back to the bears. 

Thanks for all your kind words and support. We never think twice about jumping in the boat to help both wildlife and humans whenever we can. 

If you want to donate money to help the cub while it is at the North Island Wildlife Recovery Centre please reach out to them! We will also be donating to help fund the cub's recovery at the centre until it can be released back into the wild. 

Jennifer 

Tofino Bear Cub Rescue
Tofino Bear Rescue
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Tofino Bear Cub Rescue

A Visit from the U073 Killer Whales of Lennard Lighthouse Near Tofino

A Visit from the U073 Killer Whales of Lennard Lighthouse Near Tofino

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.

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Sunset Magazine's Tour To Hot Springs Cove

Sunset Magazine's Tour To Hot Springs Cove

Whales and Hot Springs are all possible seasonally in one amazing tour! Hot Springs Cove is an exciting 6 hour adventure where our captains make an effort to find wildlife including whales, black bears, seals, sea lions, puffins, sea otters, bald eagles and over 20 miles of gorgeous coastline and beaches. 

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