Local Architecture

Here's another example of some imaginative West Coast art added to the side of an otherwise drab building. Helen almost hasMax convinced to walk right in.

Sea Lion Serendade

On our way to Nanaimo Monday morning, March 16th, we passed by Fanny Bay. This is a favourite spot for migrating California Sea Lions to hang out and fill up on the annual herring run. I tried to take a movie clip so we could hear their distinctive bark. But, due to the overcast sky the video didn't turn out.

Click on the pictures to enlarge them for a better view of the Sea Lions.

A Whale Of A Display

While enroute to Comox on the morning of February 17th a pod of Killer Whales (Orcas) was sighted off the port bow of the ferry. For all you landlubbers, that's the left front of the boat. Soon there was at least 3 "playing" alongside in a bow riding or porpoising behavior. They kept this up for about 5 - 10 minutes when they fell back to the rear of the ferry. This ferry usually travels at an average speed of 16 knots. An additional number of larger animals could also be seen some distance further away from the ferry and the general assumption was that they were feeding. We submitted details of our sighting to www.wildwhales.org (a site maintained by the Vancouver Aquarium) and have since had a reply. It seems ours was the only report received and I've copied/pasted the reply I believe to be noteworthy...

"Hello Harley!

Thank you so much for your sighting of killer whales on the 17^th. How lucky and exciting to see them from the ferry! I am not sure which whales they were, unfortunately, but if you happened to get a photo, do send them along and perhaps we could try to identify them. I am also very interested in their behavior- it isn’t that common to have killer whales bowriding alongside a ship- in fact it is something ferries try to avoid. Interaction with vessels can be very dangerous for the animals, especially large vessels, so the information you supplied is really important. The more we can learn about these animals, their distribution and their behavior, the better we can protect them. In BC, as you probably already know, we have three ‘eco-types’ of killer whales, but unfortunately they are all listed as either ‘threatened’ or ‘endangered’ by the Canadian Species at Risk Act.

The sightings we receive are not only used for science within our own organization, but made available for government, researchers, and academia to use in reports and recovery plans. For example, this year we sent all our killer whale sightings to WWF-Canada for their report on critical marine habitat. If you'd like to learn more about killer whales and other BC cetacean species, check out our website www.wildwhales.org

In your area, we are very interested in receiving reports in 'real time', or as quickly as possible. Researchers at the Pacific Biological Station in Nanaimo would be able to get out in boats to identify and study the animals, but have a fairly short window in which the animals can still be found. If you do happen to spot killer whales again and are able to call us asap, that would be a huge help. Feel free to ring the killer whale hotline which is: (250) 756-7253 or our toll free line at 1-866-I-SAW-ONE.

Thank you again for the great sighting, and do let me know if you have any questions. We look forward to hearing from you again in the future! Please don’t hesitate to send us any whale, dolphin, porpoise or sea turtle sightings you may have!

Sincerely,

Caitlin

Caitlin Birdsall

Research Assistant

BC Cetacean Sightings Network

ph: 604 659 3770"

Of course our camera was in the car and not readily accessible. However, I asked a fellow passenger if he would share some pictures. These came today.

It seems sightings such as ours are very rare and we feel very, very fortunate to have had this experience. Truly, A God Wink!!!

(Photos by Tony Howlin of Powell River)