The Whale Centre Blog

Humpback Rescue Home

Mon, 2 Aug 2010 13:07:49 -0700

This whale rescue happened last night.

Preliminary Report

Our file: M-Meno 2010,08,01
Date: August 1, 2010-08-02
Species: Humpback Whale
Tangle: Two crap floats with lines. Both have yellow tops with purple bottoms #18-092. There are several wraps around the peduncle and one around the left pectoral.
Location: 2nm of Tree I.>8.5nm off Rafael Point, outer Clayoquot Sound.
Responders: Strawberry Isle Marine Research Society team members John Forde, Rod Palm, Paul Mulligan, David Girvin, Stefan Schulson.
Response vessel: 3m fibreglass tour boat “Eco”.

Details:
• 15:50 a call came in from tour boat operator Jens Kalwa (“Big Bite”) describing a Humpback Whale traveling about 2kn in a Westerly direction; dragging two crab floats. The location was about 2nm off Tree Island.
• 16:05 Jens stayed with the animal until tour boat operator/tangle team co-ordinator John Forde (“Eco”) arrived to assess the incident. He deemed it doable if a crew could be put together.
• 16:15 tour boat operator Nick Templeman (“Close Encounters”) arrived on scene allowing John to head for Tofino to drop off his customers and get a crew together. At this time Rod Palm got the tangle tools together and solicits volunteer Paul Mulligan.
• 17:00 tour boat operator Adrian Mullin (“Goolka”) arrived on scene allowing Nick to return to Tofino with his customers.
• 17:10 we arrived on scene and see that this is a very young whale; perhaps a year or so.
• 17:20 we have caught one of the crab lines with a grapnel and working on wearing the animal down from the side of the boat.
• 18:20 only one tangle line has been cut (Paul) and the whale seems to have caught its second wind. The line is transferred to the boats bow cleat for greater resistance.
• 21:00 the whale is worn down and up tight to the bow with Stefan cutting away at the wraps around the tail.
• 21:30 the line goes slack, the whale disappears and we stand down.
• 22:30 back in Tofino.

Note: While we never know, with complete certainty, that the entire tangle has been removed, we feel confident with this one as we had calm condition and the whale in a good working position.

It was a very exciting and intense effort. My arms are ready to fall off. One more reason the Whale Centre is special.

2 Great Days at The Whale Centre

Tue, 27 Jul 2010 21:29:15 -0700

I wanted to post this thank you email from a group of happy Whale Centre customers This was a group of 5 ladies.
Hi Everyone:

On behalf of the girls I was with, Liz Henley (who paid), Kirsty (her daughter), Val (her sister), and Julie (my sister), I want to thank all staff members (girls at the centre, John, and Adrian) for the wonderful experiences we had. We were really fortunate to have John take us whale watching - totally wonderful and the weather was perfect. What can I say about John that hasn't already been said. He is so knowledgeable - he took good care of us, explaining everything, teaching us a great deal, showing us eagles, sea lions, harbour seals and most importantly the whales - what a marvellous experience. Adrian took us Bear watching, which also was thrilling. We saw more eagles, seals, and although we only fleetingly saw a bear (at least we saw it) we were totally lucky to see 2 wolves, one tan, one black. They split up and we followed the black one. There was a great deal of howling going on. It swam from the main Island to Meares Island. When it reached the shore, it climbed up the rocks and we were really blessed to see a pup jumping around - behind it was the black wolf which the pup was very excited to see. For me, it was the icing on the cake. Adrian, although young, filled our heads with information and knowledge about wildlife. He has a unique gentleness and caring for all nature. Thank you all for giving us 2 wonderful experiences that I will never forget.

Wendy

Bears and Orcas HOME

Fri, 23 Jul 2010 22:18:42 -0700

We had to get up pretty early but the saying was true today “the early bird did get the worm”Our small group was rewarded with a Mother and son Orca team heading up the inlet. Innis and Arrow, the 2 orcas were slowly making there way up Tofino inlet on a glassy calm morning. We followed them along into a fog bank it was truly classic. Then off to find a bear in the mist, As you can see by the photo above we had a great trip.

Female Grey Wolf

Sun, 18 Jul 2010 00:57:00 -0700

It just keeps getting better at the Whale Centre. our bear watch started out with a Grey wolf swimming in front of us then disappearing into the bush. We then proceeded to watch a Mother and three lovely little bear cubs forage for crabs and other sea food along the shore. On our way home we spotted this wolf moving along the shore she, in the process scared a mother bear into the woods and then posed for the lucky whale centre guests. I believe she is either about to give birth or has pups near by.
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An old Friend HOME

Sat, 17 Jul 2010 00:48:07 -0700

Today we had a great visit with an old friend. A large male grey whale, we assume he is male because he has never been seen with a calf was feeding in Cow Bay. In typical 2 Dot fashion he came over and said hi. Like alot of whales he seams to really like the Boston Whalers we use. He surfaced turned towards us and took his usual four breaths and to the delight of my crew swam right under the boat. 2 Dot was first photographed in 1974 off of Long Beach and I have seen him every year since the early eighties.