At about 3:00 pm today I watched 2 large male killer whales (U38 and U39) from Dallas Rd in Victoria. I saw them pass in front of the Canadian Navy ship which makes for a nice photo. Then saw “Mallard” CWR / DFO on scene documenting the two transients. I noticed the animals went down on a very long dive because I didn’t see anything after a while. My guess is they were in predation mode as the research boat remained on scene and attentive. After getting a coffee to warm up my freezing hands, I changed my location and returned to find the animals and the research boat further away towards the Metchosin shoreline. Thanks to Ron MMRG for the heads up.
Please note: I found on the old Center for Whale Research site that there are 14 transient pods:E,F,M,O,N,P,Q,R,S,T,U,V,X,Y,Z
Chelsea Stanley, a biologist for DFO states;
U’s are KW’s whose ecotype is unknown. They are not given an ecotype until they are seen associated with a group with a known ecotype at least twice. I think they suspect most of them are transient-type.
Please view the comment by Jared Towers as he talks more about these two interesting individuals.
Tags: juan de fuca, orcas, transient killer whales, victoria
Nice photos. I like the from shore perspective. It looks like our most well known unknowns are still being anti-social. Like Chelsea says the designation may only be temporary for any U animal, especially these guys as they have been around quite a bit the past few years so it is only a matter of time before they prove themselves one way or another. Any designation beyond U is based on association, acoustics, genetics and to a lesser extent even prey preference. Hope they stick around.
cheers, JT