FAMILY TIME

I went out tonight with the goal of finding some of my furry friends up in Fortune Channel. At the south end of Fortune Channel is Dawley Pass. I was heading northward and about to enter Fortune when a Orca popped up right in front of me heading south! Orcas are relatively rare,so I turned around and began following them. I was with them the better part of 3 hours. They headed eastward down Tofino inlet. Other boats joined me in procession. After a hour or so all the other boats took off leaving me alone with them once again. The light was pretty good for the background but they did stay in the shadows. I’m not sure how many were in this pod but I’d hazard a guess at 4 or 6 ? The youngster kept coming up with a bit of a jump to its breach! I’ll find out who they are tomorrow. I lost them around Rankin rocks and so headed back to Tofino. I stopped off for a quick hello with the Daredevil. Couldn’t stay long as I was already coming back in semi darkness and I do not have running lights.

I was very happy to of found them! These are very intelligent and beautiful creatures!

UPDATE : April 29.19 – I found out this pod is T023C.Three matured females and a calf. aka Motley Crew

BREACHING

ATTACKED!

I’m not sure but assume these marks were caused by a Sea Lion fighting back……..and yes it was probably the last thing it ever did….cause their on the menu!

UPDATE : May 1/19 –  Here is my latest theory……These markings may be from the adults?

When we all were children our mother or father sometimes scolded and disciplined us.I think these marks are from the teeth of the mother and father scolding the calf. Like getting your rear paddled.

I’ve asked the experts but they do not seem to know,but they do say these marks are common on Orcas.

 

 

EXHALING

SURFACING

GOODNIGHT

DAREDEVIL’S SUNSET

ROMEO’S MOON LANDING

I originally shot these on November 20,2018.

This is Romeo perching upon his throne. I knew where he was going to perch. I lined the moon up in behind and called him,he came straight over! I think I got 2 or 3 sequences of him perching. The golden light is icing to the cake!

 

MY FIRST BOO BOO OF THE YEAR

I went looking for bears tonight,first time this year. I went up the eastern shore of Fortune Channel for several miles not seeing any. I made my return run and just as I was about to leave Fortune I did spot one but it was in the shade. Wouldn’t you know it! You know how I hate black bears in shade!

Having said that……10% of something is better than 100% of nothing! It looks like a matured female.

THE DAREDEVIL AND DELILAH

Its rare that I can get a shot of them both together. Delilah went missing last year. I didn’t see her for 5 month’s or so? I’m pretty sure she passed away. The Daredevil found a new partner. She’s younger and doesn’t want to have anything to do with me……no accounting for taste!

HOMING IN

ROMEO’S SUNSET

DINNER TIME

This male Sea Otter found a tasty clam. Sea Otters use their tummies as a table.

THE DAREDEVIL AT REST AND PLAY

MAGGIE STROLLING

 

 

MAGGIE GIRL

A TOFINO FLY BY

A GOOD FRIDAY SUNSET

A FACE ONLY A MOTHER COULD LOVE

Things have been a tad wet over our way,so I thought I’d repost some shots. I took these originally on 2016 October 10. The spot is Rankin rocks which is east of Tofino about 5 miles or so down Tofino inlet. Tranquil’s valley can be seen in the background.

There are two types of Sea Lions we get here,Californians and Stellar’s . Cali’s are around 1/2 ton while their bigger cousins the Stellar’s  are twice as large at 1 ton. Cali’s are generally darker than the Stellar’s and of course smaller. Stellar’s always like to be King of the hill on any rocky haul outs. The Californians will be down lower close to the waters edge while the big Stellar boys rest further up.

For some strange reason this fellow was all by himself. Usually they hang out in groups,sunning away with their noses pointing to the sky.

This fellow and I spent some time together. I called him “Lippy” because his left lower lip is damaged. You can clearly see how there is a tear in the upper lip. I wondered why? At first I thought of a boats prop but decided that wasn’t the reason.  Propellar wounds have symmetry and repeat in pattern. Than I thought of a Fish farms predator net!

I’ve seen these guys get stuck in those nets before. They breath air like you and I and If they become entangled in the netting they can drown. The Lions charge the salmon nets hoping to grab a unsuspecting salmon! They push against the heavy nets trying to corral a bunch of salmon. Of course they cannot pull the much larger fish through the net squares,so they suck the internal organs of the fish right through the net holes. The salmon than sinks to the bottom of the pen net.

DIvers go into each pen every three days or so to see If there are any dead salmon. When they bring up perfectly healthy salmon with no guts you know there was a predator attack and it was a Lion.

Surrounding the fish farm site is another much larger net called a “Predator Net”(pred net). It engulfs the entire site and is about 10 feet away from the inside fish nets. Its designed to stop Lion attacks but Lions are always trying to get at those tasty fish! Sometimes a Lion will push the pred net in quickly to get at the salmon but get snagged. It looks like thats exactly what happened here to”Lippy” but he was lucky enough to escape with only face wounding.

“THUMPER” THUMPING

One thing I like about animals is that they have habits. If you hang around them long enough you can see patterns. “Thumper” likes to perch on top of this log and thump away! Grouse move around in their territory like a trapper on a trap line. They beat their wings against their chest creating a loud thrumming sound. (Unfortunately the trail camera does not have sound.) Once you’ve heard the it, you’ll never forget it.

He’s basically telling other males to stay away and any females that he’s there.

THE DAREDEVIL #2

The Daredevil looked fanatstic in golden light!  You can see the almost full moon in the background.