We received reports that the Southern Resident killer whales were inbound from the west in the morning. Giles, Jim, Nikhela, and Heather met at the dock around noon and departed Snug Harbor at 12:30 p.m. The weather was warm and sunny, perfect weather for fecal sample collection.
We arrived on the scene with the whales at around 1:00 p.m. J, K, and L Pod members were present near Victoria, BC. Around 2:30 p.m., Eba had a hit on a scent, and we collected the first sample of the day.
At 4:00 pm, we returned to Snug Harbor to give Eba a break and then got back on the water around 4:30. The whales displayed porpoising in groups south of Snug Harbor, which was terrific. Around 5:00 p.m., the whales exhibited playful activity throughout the evening. We overserved breaches, spy hops, and tail slaps. We finished the day back at Snug Harbor at 7 p.m.
Research Vessel
R/V Cheena
Species
Southern Resident Killer Whale
Pods
J, K & L Pod
Research Activities
Fecal Sample Collection, Behavior Data