Gray whale activities in very shallow nearshore areas of Puget Sound
(Saratoga Passage) was documented by Laurie Weitkamp about 10 years ago,
where she inadvertently found that whales were feeding on dense patches
of ghost shrimp in her intertidal study sites. The finding altered the
course of her work significantly, as her master's thesis (UW Fisheries)
reflects. She went on to conduct aerial surveys and was astonished to
find so many furrows in the intertidal that were readily observed from
the air, but not noticed so well from the ground. I think when she saw
the whales they were in only about 10 feet of water.


Check out our lakes web page!
http://splash.metrokc.gov/wlr/waterres/lakes/index.htm

Kevin Li
King County Environmental Lab
322 W. Ewing St.
Seattle, WA 98119-1507






>----------
>From: D. Victor[SMTP:dvictor at u.washington.edu]
>Sent: Thursday, April 16, 1998 10:46 AM
>To: hilary maguire
>Cc: WA State/B.C. Birders List
>Subject: Not About Birds: Grey Whale Sighting in Vancouver, B.C. area (fwd)
>
>---------- Forwarded message ----------
>From: hmag at infoserve.net (hilary maguire)
>
>Hello Tweets,
>
>I had an astonishing sighting on the Easter weekend.
>
>There was a grey whale at Port Moody, the populated terminus of Burrard
>Inlet, on the evening of April 13! Port Moody is about 25 km east of the
>port of Vancouver at the end of an inlet well used by both recreational
>boaters and freighters coming into the dock at Port Moody. (There is
>another arm to Burrard Inlet, called Indian Arm, which, though well used by
>recreational boaters, is not used by freighters.)
>
>We first spotted this whale in the evening, not far from shore, about a
>kilometre from the end of the inlet, travelling east (toward the end of
>the inlet). My friend first caught sight of it blowing, and then we
>watched as it moved eastward, fairly slowly, its back visible briefly
>after each breath. Once out of our sight, we went down to Old Orchard
>Park, very close to the mudflats, and located the whale again. It was now
>even closer to the shore - so close we were able to hear it breathing! As
>night approached it was harder and harder to see the whale in the dark
>shadows of the water, but we could still hear it. After a short
>exploration of the area between the park beach and the very shallow water
>it turned and headed west again, visible in the water where the land was
>not reflected. We lost sight of it in the darkness as evening fell.
>
>I would be interested to know more about other whale sightings in the
>waters of, and around, Burrard Inlet. There have been a small number of
>orca sightings in Burrard Inlet in the 40 odd years my family has lived
>Port Moody. I know of only one occasion, and that was in the '60's, when
>orcas came all the way into the bay of Port Moody, and I have never heard
>of any larger whales seen anywhere in Burrard Inlet, at any time. I have
>heard that Burrard Inlet supported commercial whaling until around the
>beginning of this century, but I don't know what species were hunted.
>
>What an experience to be so close to such a creature in our own back yard!
>
>Hilary Maguire
>Vancouver, B.C.
>hmag at infoserve.net
>
>
>
>