Orcas, Octopus and Urchins, oh my!

On our way to the kelp forest this afternoon, G block marine scientists were distracted by three orcas making their way from the mouth of Pedder Bay towards Victoria. It was a magical experience to follow the whales as they travelled past William Head. There were two males and one female in the group.

We pulled ourselves away from the whales and headed back to Fossil Point where three divers and five snorkelers entered the water to explore the kelp forest. This time, Courtney brought us a giant red sea urchin (Strongylocentrotus franciscanus) and it was Jasper that found the octopus (an already-dissected octopus!).

Tags: giant pacific octopus, octopus, orca, Orcinus orca, Red sea urchin, Strongylocentrotus franciscanus

This entry was posted on October 6, 2015 at 3:14 pm and is filed under Field trips, Marine organisms. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

6 Responses to “Orcas, Octopus and Urchins, oh my!”

Dwight Owens Says:
October 7, 2015 at 12:22 pm | Reply
Hi,

We are interested to know what group and pod the Orcas belonged to. Do you have any closer photos of them?

Thanks, -Dwight. [http://www.oceannetworks.ca/img/onc-email-octopus.jpg]

Dwight Owens | User Engagement Ocean Networks Canada | T 250 853 3712 | oceannetworks.ca University of Victoria PO Box 1700 STN CSC 2300 McKenzie Avenue Victoria, BC V8W 2Y2
- pearsoncollegemarinescience Says:
  October 12, 2015 at 7:43 pm | Reply
  Hi Dwight!
  Unfortunately we don’t have any photos that would allow us to identify the three orcas we saw. It sure was a thrilling experience though!
  Cheers, Laura.
Yam korine Says:
October 9, 2015 at 12:29 pm | Reply
One of the BEST filed trip! It looks like an amazing time in the underwater world! Yam PC 40
- pearsoncollegemarinescience Says:
  October 12, 2015 at 7:45 pm | Reply
  Hi Yam!
  We did have three wonderful trips to the kelp forest this year – we missed you though! Hope all is well with you. I heard a rumour you might pursue marine science in the future – any truth to that one?
  Take care, Laura.
Chloe Guilbert-Savary Says:
October 12, 2015 at 4:56 pm | Reply
Wow! Wonderful dive! How big was the octopus? Any ideas as to what happened to it?
- pearsoncollegemarinescience Says:
  October 12, 2015 at 7:56 pm | Reply
  Hi Chloe!
  I think that the octopus probably died of old age. It was a large male with an arm span over 2 m (from arm tip to arm tip) and octopuses have short life span (3 to 5 years). You can see more photos of the octopus we found here.
  Missing you, Laura.