Vancouver Sun, Nov. 6, 2013: An extraordinary string of recent whale encounters around Vancouver Island is likely due to luck, not one factor, experts say. “This has not been a typical year,” said John Ford, head of the cetacean research program at Pacific Biological Station in Nanaimo. […] The “biggie” of the bunch is the endangered North Pacific right whale, spotted twice in B.C. waters for the first time in 60 years. […] There have been other remarkable whale encounters: In May, a Campbell River man underwent facial surgery after his boat collided with a humpback whale in Kelsey Bay near the northern tip of Vancouver Island. This year humpbacks have been seen sporadically in unusual areas […] In August, a Galiano Island resident captured three minutes of close-up footage as a pod of playful killer whales travelled through Active Pass […] On Oct. 29, members of the endangered southern resident killer whales J-pod swam with a Washington state ferry as it carried tribal artifacts […] First Nations leaders said their feeding break to accompany the artifacts was an auspicious welcome. On Halloween, passengers aboard the B.C. ferry between Galiano Island and Tsawwassen were treated to the sight of a superpod of about 1,000 Pacific white-sided dolphins moving through Howe Sound […] [Lance Barrett-Lennard, project adviser for Wild Whales] said what’s stood out for him this year is the unseasonably quiet behaviour of resident whales […]
Nick Claxton, a member of the Tsawout First Nation and doctoral student and Indigenous academic adviser at the University of Victoria: Recent whale encounters could have a deeper meaning, according to an Indigenous worldview […] “We see them as our relatives, as ancestors. All of these occurrences remind us of our place here and our connection to the natural world. It’s for the better of all of us to listen.”
Yet another event hours after the above article was published: More than 1,000 Pacific white-sided dolphins have been filmed swimming in B.C.’s Haro Strait, less than a week after a similar sighting off the province’s Gulf Islands. CBC viewer Joshua Landry caught the incredible sight on video [he] said the pod stretched more than a kilometre across and the animals swarmed around the boat for about 20 minutes. “I’ve had a few people come up with theories that they [the dolphins] know more than we do, and they’re all getting out of here for some reason.”
Related info:
– Something Is Killing Life All Over The Pacific Ocean
– Head Researcher “Is Sounding The Alarm’ Over Dramatic Changes In Pacific Northwest Killer Whales
– 28 Signs That The West Coast Is Being Absolutely Fried With Nuclear Radiation From Fukushima
