Straitwatch Patrol to Barkley Sound Aug 30 to Sept 1, 2008

Straitwatch undertook a patrol to Barkley Sound /Alberni Inlet to investigate reports of a humpback whale that had been interacting closely with boats . It was felt that, as the Alberni Salmon Festival and Sport Fishing Derby was scheduled for the August long weekend, that it might be beneficial to educate the numerous boaters that would potentially interact with this whale.

We chose Port Alberni as our launching point. However, 30 kt winds racing down Alberni Inlet Friday evening changed our plans to launch there and we continued to Chestermans Beach, near Tofino, where some friends had rented a condo unit for the weekend and which would act as our base.

Our goal was to find the whale and to request that boaters stay away from the whale to discourage this reported behaviour. We would travel throughout the Sound and Inlet, identify the whales in the area, observe their behaviour, and monitor the VHF radio (fishing channels: 72 and 6; whale watching channel: 21A and channel 17, 18 used by locals as well as 16 and 83A) to listen for any report of oddly behaving whales.

Saturday. We launched the boat from Ucluelet and headed towards Alberni Inlet. A 1' chop on a 1.5 meter swell provided for relatively easy running in the 16' zodiac. By the time we were in Alberni Inlet the sea was nearly calm. We quickly received a call from Peter Mieras, owner of Rendezvous Dive Adventures, about a humpback whale near Kyen Point, so we headed back into Imperial Eagle Channel. When we arrived the whale was feeding near the Baeria Ecological Reserve, a group of small islets mid-channel.

After an hour or so with this whale, it was obvious that it was behaving normally, so we continued back south east towards the Chain Islands where we spotted two more blows. We found a cow and calf between Link and Chain Islands at the very north end of the Chain Islands. These animals were also acting like normal humpback whales and paying no attention to the three or so sport fishing vessels there, so we continued on again.

We found a fourth whale just around the top of Tzartus Island at Clifton Point. It was taking long dives and quickly disappeared, so we continued towards Bamfield. Mid-channel near Robbers Passage we spotted two boats travelling closely to a whale. We spoke with one of the boaters, a former commercial fisherman, who reported that the whale approached closely as he was pulling up his prawn trap. We continued to observe the whale for 1/2 hour, however, it's behaviour appeared normal.

After refueling in Bamfield we began to head for Ucluelet. The northwest winds were building and seas were nearing four feet in Trevor Channel. We passed through Robbers Passage, and as we crossed Imperial Eagle Channel we spotted two more blows - possibly the two humpbacks that we had spotted earlier at the south end of the Chain Islands. After a time monitoing the situation there, we continued back to Ucluelet. It was a rough and slow ride. We were glad to be out of the slop as the sun began to set.

Sunday

Calm seas and light winds allowed us to take the outside route around the west end of the Broken Islands. The swell was still over 2 metres, but the seas were otherwise glassy.

At Cree Island near the west end of Imperial Eagle Channel, we quickly spotted a number of blows. At least seven whales were seen over a large area, many breaching and spy-hopping, making it easy to spot them. The boats in the area were all preoccupied with fishing. Rendezvous/Peter called to report a humpback whale near Swale Rock, at the opposite end of Imperial Eagle. We headed that way but before we could spot the whale, the Coast Guard Vessel Atlin Post called to report a group of killer whales up Alberni Inlet heading seaward. Several boats had been interacting with the whales and the RCMP had already spoken with one vessel that was acting inappropriately. We headed quickly for Alberni Inlet.

We found the whales approaching Coleman Creek. As we slowed, we noticed a vessel from further up the inlet approaching the whales directly; they stopped about 400 metres away. The crew had been watching the whales from their cabin near China Creek earlier that morning. They were happy to observe the guidelines and reported that some zodiacs had been following the whales very closely in front of their cabin. We followed the whales west, but few boats noticed them, as they were tight to the shore opposite the side that vessels were taking. These were mainly sport fishing boats, heading in to Port Alberni to have their fish weighed. Things changed at Star Point, near the mouth of Alberni Inlet. Here the boats were cutting the inside corner and were driving directly at the whales. Some vessels stopped in the path of the whales, others continued along (either not noticing the whales or not bothering to alter course) and several boats altered course to observe the whales without adjusting their speed - drive-by whale watching. We spoke with several vessels - all were friendly; none were aware of guidelines.

We followed the whales up Trevor Channel until there were no boats in the vicinity. We left them west bound near Clifton Point. We had planned to meet with Peter and Kathy at Rendezvous Dive Adventures about the humpback in question, so we turned back east towards their place in Rainy Bay.

We had a nice visit with Peter and Kathy and watched their video of the humpack. Peter told us how he had approached the whale as it appeared to be entangled in a crab buoy not far from their place. As he approached the whale dove and next surfaced adjacent to his vessel, bumping it slightly; in the video it appears as if the whale was intent on some further interaction. After a short time, the whale approached a second vessel and surfaced directly under the vessel, lifting in and moving it a short distance. In the vessel was a group of very nervous German tourists.

We left Kathy and Peter, as they had many guests and dinner was approaching and we had building seas to contend with.

On the way home we spotted about 7 humpbacks near the Baeria Ecological Reserve. Just as we were leaving, a vessel from the derby approached one of the humpbacks, circling the whale within 15 metres. We distracted the boaters (from Manitoba) and provided Be Whale Wise Guidelines and an interpretive talk.

Monday.

The day started windy again, this time from the south west. We still took the outside route, hoping the seas would not be overly uncomfortable... we were wrong. However, despite the rough sea conditions we again found two humpbacks and a few distant blows at the west entrance to Imperial Eagle Channel. The whale watchers were reporting more whales further up Imperial Eagle so we continued that way... glad that the seas diminished the further we went. The whale watchers sounded very disappointed that the whales were not more active at the surface. Reports were that there were three humpacks at the Baeria Rocks Ecological Reserve, so we continued there. As we approached the scene, three vessels left and we were alone with a cow and calf with a third whale in the distance. As we were leaving, a sport fish boat approached the whales head on. Just as we approached the vessel, to speak with the operator, the calf breached about 15 metres from them, splashing the crew. They were apologetic and friendly. They seemed quite concerned that vessels have been struck by breaching whales and promised not to approach so closely.

We were planning on heading back so we left the scene about 1300 and headed for Ucluelet. On the trip home the past the Atlin Post who had stopped for lunch. We spoke briefly with crewmen Paul and their rescue that morning of the grounded sailboat Cat's Paw 2, before hauling out in Ucluelet.

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