Orca, Minke and Humpback Whales In British Columbia
WeGo Kayaking offers two trips focused on kayaking and
whale watching.......
Pacific
Orca Lodge - Orcas, Grizzly bears and kayaking.
Wild Orca Discovery - Kayaking with whales
and wildlife viewing.
As part of our commitment to conserving British
Columbia's coastal envirnoment, all of us at WeGo Kayaking are
pleased to offer our support to the great organizations that
truly take the lead in that regard. Please take some time to
have a read through this page and visit the websites that are
listed here. And if you can, adopt an Orca!
Without question, there is nothing more impressive than
seeing Orca (killer whales) in their natural habitat. In fact,
there is only one thing that can make the experience even more
invigorating and that is to see these remarkable marine mammals
from the perspective of a kayak. To be kayaking, is to quite
literally be in the water, as the seat of the sea kayak rides
below or at the waterline. The perspective differs considerably
from being in a boat in that you are not looking down on the
whale, so much as you are looking across at the whale; quite
often while it is looking back at you! To be kayaking with
killer whales is the experience of a lifetime!
Killer Whale Social Structure &
Terminology
A Clan of Killer Whales is.....
one or more pods that share a related dialect; pods within a
clan have probably descended from a common ancestral group and
therefore are probably more closely related to each other than
to pods from other clans.
The Killer Whale Dialect is made up
of.....
is a unique set of discrete calls made by an individual whale
and fellow pod members.
The Matriarch Killer Whale
is.....
is the eldest female in a matrilineal group, pod, or sub pod of
killer whales.
The Killer Whale Matrilineal Group
is.....
the basic social unit of resident killer whales, composed of a
mature female and her immediate descendents; descendents may
include mature males and mature daughters and their offspring.
A Pod of Killer Whales
is.....
a group of maternally related individual killer whales that tend
to travel together; in transient killer whales, the term
"group" is used in preference to "pod"
because groups are not necessarily made up of related animals.
There are Three Types of Killer
Whales.....
Residents, Transients and Offshore.
A Resident Killer Whale is.....
a form of killer whales that feeds preferentially on fish,
especially salmon, and has a very stable social structure
A Transient Killer Whale is Different
Because.....
they feed almost exclusively on marine mammals or seabirds. The
favoured prey of transients is harbour seals, sea lions, and
porpoises.
The Offshore Killer Whale.....
Very little is known about the diet of the Off Shore species,
but it is believed that they prey on fish for at least part of
the year, however preying on marine mammals is also possible.
Whale Viewing Guidelines
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There are strict guidelines that we happily adhere to
while we are in the presence of the killer whales. The
guidelines have been put in place to minimize the disturbance
of the killer whales while they are doing what killer whales
do; foraging, playing, sleeping and traveling and we support
these guidelines thoroughly. While viewing the whales we
remain 100 metres (300 feet) away from the killer whales to
ensure that they are not disrupted.
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Occasionally we are fortunate and the killer whale's
curiosity will get the best of them, and we get to experience
the thrill of having an up-close encounter. In the picture to
the right, the killer whales are traveling down the west side
of Swanson Island as they head for Blackney Passage. There was
about 12 killer whales (orcas) in total and they did pass very
near to us as we sat and watched them. A very exciting
experience!
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The Whales of
Johnstone Strait
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On our Pacific Orcas
Expedition and Wild
Orca Discovery tours our main objective is to view Orcas
(killer whales) in their natural habitat. Although the killer
whales (Orcas) are the main focus, we also often see Minke and
Humpback whales. In addition to the whales, the area is home
to a population of dolphins, porpoises and a variety of other
marine mammals and wildlife. Our success rate for whale
sightings on our tours is in the 98% range.
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The areas we travel in are rich with a diverse array of
other marine and land based creatures. To add to your
experience, understanding and appreciation of the animals you
will see on our expeditions, our guides will share their
knowledge through naratives and by answering your questions to
the best of their ability. Our overall goal is to increase the
awareness level of our guests about the threats these animals
face from both human and other natural predators.
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Orcalab
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In 1970, Dr. Paul Spong founded OrcaLab, a
small land based whale research station nestled against the
evergreen forest of Hanson Island in the waters of the
"Inside Passage" of northern Vancouver Island in
British Columbia, Canada. The work of OrcaLab is centered
around the philosophy that it is possible to study wild
animals without interfering with their lives or habitat. A
network of hydrophones, positioned around the orcas'
"core habitat", helps us
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to monitor their movements all year round.Supplementing
the acoustic data are visual sightings of orcas as they pass
OrcaLab, and reports from land observation sites staffed by
OrcaLab volunteers during the summer "season", as
well as reports from other researchers and whale watchers who
share observations and information. Since 1994, OrcaLab has
operated a video monitoring station on Cracroft Point in
Johnstone Strait which allows the
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unobtrusive collection of both surface and underwater
images of orcas and other ocean life. In 2000, OrcaLab and
Japan's NTT Data corporation brought the everyday beauty of
the orcas' lives to the Internet via Orca-live. During the
summer and fall months of 2002, we will once again be
broadcasting LIVE!
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We encourage all of our guests to visit the >>OrcaLab
website and learn more abut killer whales.
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The Johnstone Strait Killer Whale
Interpretive Centre Society
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Cheryl
Ciccone Identifying Killer Whales At Eagles Eye Monitoring
Station through the spotting scope donated by WeGo Kayaking
and it's generous clients.
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In 1982, Robson Bight was officially recognized as
important habitat and designated an Ecological Reserve under
the BC Parks system. In 1987, a marine warden program was
initiated to both monitor the behaviour of whales in the
presence and absence of vessels and to inform park visitors of
the whale watching guidelines and no-entry policy of the
reserve - which extends one kilometer offshore of Vancouver
Island and is nine kilometers long. Northern Resident killer
whales spend considerable amounts of time in the bight feeding
on high concentrations of salmon and rubbing on the smooth
pebble beach in the reserve. In 2003, the Johnstone Strait
Killer Whale Interpretive Centre Society began a three year
contract to operate the warden program.
Straitwatch is a stewardship-based marine mammal
monitoring and education program operated in Johnstone Strait,
off northeastern Vancouver Island. The program monitors
activities around local marine mammals, especially killer
whales, and provides boaters with
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information on marine species and marine mammal viewing
guidelines. The program strives to increase people's awareness
of the stresses these animals face, such as habitat
degradation, decreased food availability, increasing
underwater noise and contaminant levels, we can modify human
behaviour to alleviate these stresses.
>>> Visit The Johnstone Strait
Killer Whale Interpretive Centre Society Website
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Orcalive
Orcas (killer whales) communicate and can be identified by the
sounds they make, and they do make a lot of sounds. If you would
like to, you can register your email address with >>Orcalive
and they will alert you when the killer whales can be heard on
their network.

Killer Whales Adoption Program
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The killer whales adoption program is an excellent way
to contribute to the welfare of the British Columbia Orca
population. By adopting one of these amazing creatures you
will become a key partner in the killer whales research
effort. The B.C. Wild Killer Whale Adoption Program is hosted
by the Vancouver Aquarium Marine Science Centre, a non-profit
organization. All contributions go directly to research and
conservation of killer whales in the wild. We encourage all of
our guests to take part in this effort. WeGo Kayaking adopted
Cracroft (A32) - an adult male killer whale thought to have
been born in 1964.
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You can get involved by contacting the B.C. Wild Killer
Whales Adoption Program at
www.killerwhale.org
. Their website has a wealth of information about Orcas, we
highly recommend it!


Humpback
Whales
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Once abundant in coastal British Columbia, humpback
whales were driven close to extinction by commercial whaling
in the early part of this century. For many years, sighting a
humpback in B.C. waters was a rare event. However, ongoing
field studies by Dr. John Ford and Graeme Ellis of the
Department of Fisheries and Oceans, and their various
colleagues are revealing that humpbacks are making a comeback
in the province.
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Just as your fingerprint can be used to identify you,
humpbacks are individually identified from natural
pigmentation patterns and nicks or scars on the underside of
the tail flukes. So far, 500 individual humpbacks have been
identified using the waters off the Queen Charlotte Islands.
Comparisons of these 'mug shots' with others taken by other
researchers in other areas have shown that these whales also
travel to southeastern Alaska during the summer months, and to
other locations in B.C. Fluke photo matches have
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also shown that at least some Queen Charlotte humpbacks
migrate to the Hawaiian Islands for the winter breeding
season. Identification photos from the Queen Charlotte Islands
were also used together with photos from other regions to
produce a statistical model of the humpback population in the
North Pacific. The best estimate is now 15,000 whales for this
ocean basin, which is at least 5 times higher than previously
thought.
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Getting good quality photographs can be an arduous
task! Long hours are spent in small boats, sometimes in not so
pleasant weather conditions waiting for whales. Even when
humpbacks are found, they do not always cooperate by showing
their flukes at the right angle or at the right time!Imagine
trying to stand on a rocking boat, in the rain trying to
capture a photograph of just the right part of a moving
whale…not so easy a task.
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>>>Please
visit the B.C. Cetacean Sightings Network for more information.
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Click
here to learn about Pacific White Sided dolphins. These fun,
playful mammals are often seen on our kayaking expeditions in
Johnstone Strait.
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