Aka how Killer Whales ruin everything…if you’re looking for Harbor Porpoises 😛

When you’ve spend a few hundred hours watching for marine mammals from land you get this feeling for something not being quite right, when something just seems off. Today was one of those days. Howe Sound off Whytecliff Park just felt a little bit too quiet that day. There was absolutely no wildlife in sight, no harbour seals, no sea lions, not a single harbour porpoise (our target species) — not even a darn gull! Conditions for sighting wildlife were excellent, the sea was mostly calm, visibility was great, but nothing happened for many long hours — until we spotted a somewhat oversized dorsal fin slice into the water.

There was no mistaking that group of killer whales arriving from the direction of Horseshoe Bay.

And sure enough, it was the T123s, no doubt looking for a quick lunch.

That pretty much killed our chances of seeing any harbour porpoise for a while — but at least people in the park had something other than themselves to take pictures of…

-Marcus (Porpoise Conservation Society)