5-17-13 J Pod Kerfuffles!

Friday, May 17th
...with J pod not around yesterday and a large group of transient orca (also known as Bigg's orca) seen in Rosario Strait, when word came of whales seen from the morning ferry there was no guessing on who it might be...
...out on Maya's Westside Charters...up over the top and down past Friday Harbor heading toward the waters off the south end of Lopez Island...we slowed for some harbor porpoise and the most unusual thing happened - one of the harbor porpoise began surfing the stern wake!...not a common sight to see, at least for me...
...the whales were already at the bottom of Lopez and appeared to be coming across...the first group we saw clearly was Granny J-2 with Samish J-14 and her family...Granny had already gone under by the time I took this image...

...Blackberry J-27 was doing lazy pec slaps...

...some of the kids playful behavior...

...as we headed for the harbor we saw some of the J16s...I got lucky to catch this of Mike J-26 as he made a big lunge...

...during the afternoon they had moved offshore and began coming up island late in the day...and they were barely moving...Granny was up ahead of the others by at least a 1/2 mile...small groups began slowly coming up and when they were all together they began moving up island in a resting pattern, which, to me, is one of the most beautiful things you can see out there...

...the tide chart said that it was about a 6' flood over about an 8 hour period...Capt. Justin commented at one point that we were moving at about 1 to 1.5 knots...
...Granny in the lead as they pass Lime Kiln Pt. State Park and the lighthouse...

...a short distance past the light there was a kerfuffle ...a couple dorsal fins going the opposite way...two spyhops, they moved down island briefly and then turned back and continued going up island...

 ...

...Granny at County Park...

...the sun was beginning to peek through the clouds...there was another kerfuffle and then a bit further on a rainbow appeared at the point to the south of County Park...

...the whales continued to move north...

...hope they don't follow this cruise ship to Alaska :)

 

5-16-13 Salt Spring Island and Whales

Thursday, May 16th
...funny how the events of yesterday become the opposite today...when whales were seen near Tsawwassen ferry terminal and coming down this morning, it was thought to be J pod, but instead they morphed into Transients!
...out on Maya's Westside Charters we headed up to see 'whoever was present'!
...they split off and a small group came down Boundary Pass, into Swanson Channel...they made a left turn at Beaver Pt. and traveled along the east side of Salt Spring Island...
I have seen more of Salt Spring Island this year and it is beautiful, especially on a sunny day with whales moving as slowly as these were...

...who were they?...
Chainsaw T63...he is estimated to be in his 30s..he travels with T65...relationship?...another good question...I think we'd have to ask them to know for sure...

...with them was T65's second offspring - T65B and her second offspring - T65B2...

...and just like the video clip...it was a beautiful day on the water...

 

5-15-13 A Big Welcome Back to J Pod!

Wednesday, May 15th

Se-Yi-Chn J-45 and his mom Samish J-14

...we've waited and anticipated for a long time now...today was the 73rd day since we last heard from J Pod on the west side of San Juan Island...and today became the 1st day that they have returned...
...so very glad to have them back...and yes, Granny is here, Spieden is here, baby J-49 is here and everyone in between!
...out on Maya's Westside Charters to see what was supposed to be 7 transients...who quickly morphed into 26 J pod whales + Onyx L-87 for a total of 27 whales...we were all ecstatic to greet them with a big Welcome Back! 

...we met the whales as they were heading east in the Strait of Juan de Fuca...Granny's group (Group A, as I call them, with the J16s traveling near)...in another group (Group B) were Blackberry J-27, DoubleStuf J-34, Princess Angeline J-17 and all their family members...

...I lost count of the spyhops...

...Mike and Onyx...

...I always wanted an image with the golf course on Vancouver Island in the background...

...as the whales moved farther east we left the sunshine behind...they came across Haro Strait and most of them moved in close to shore, giving those along the shore some nice close passes...
...a few remained farther offshore...Granny J-2 was one of them...

...as they moved on up the island, they took their time and seemed to be having fun...baby J-49 was sure having a great time with his uncle Se-Yi-Chn J-45...

...the last group to pass us at Kellett Bluff was Group B...goofing around as they slowly moved up island...

...now we are all walking around with big smiles on our faces today!
I hope there is enough salmon in these waters for them...

5-14-13 Four Days With the Same Ts!

Saturday through Monday, May 11-14th
...the same transients have been just about everywhere these last several days...
...on Saturday...at East Point, a California sea lion in the middle of all those Steller sea lions...we only saw him because we heard his bark!

...T49B was just starting to speed swim to knock seals off the rocks at a long reef in Trincomali Channel...

...thing is, she actually 'washed' them up onto the rocks as she scared the heck out of them!

...on the way back to the harbor Capt. Jim spotted an elephant seal...

...on Sunday the same whales were in the area, but this time they were way at the bottom end of San Juan Island...by late in the day the whales had come north...they went up the east side of Waldron Island, past Skip Jack Island...

...and then took a harbor seal...and now time for some play...

...on Monday they took us on a long, round about trip...it began in the morning at Spieden Island where they beat up a Steller sea lion for a few minutes and then moved on...

...they traveled across Haro Strait and on the way over a bald eagle was after something...I noticed how the eagle's tongue was sticking out...something that looked rather strange to me...

...over to Sidney and down Cordova Channel to Cordova Spit they traveled, where they turned around and took out a harbor seal...lots of surface action going on too...

...in the middle of it all I got a breach and belly sequence of T49B2 to reveal the sex of this young whale...

...and on Tuesday they were still in the area...traveling up through Active Pass in the late afternoon...

...on the way through Active a bald eagle got a fish - a big one too!

...we left the whales as they continued to head north west...as we passed the buoy outside of the pass I noticed a sea lion hauled out...not sure if this is a female or a young Steller sea lion...

...being so in to the transient killer whales and the lack of the Residents presence, we anticipated more transients tomorrow...little did we know things were about to change!

5-10-13 Humpback, Mink, and Branded Steller Sea Lions

Friday, May 10th
...out on Maya's Westside Charters for an afternoon trip we headed north to East Pt...

...the Steller sea lions were in abundance and we saw four who had brands on them...311R, 137Y, 404R and what looks like 410R...
...then on to the humpback...yes, I added a 'bit of color' to this image!

...based on the markings, this humpback I also saw last year on April 25th and again on May 11th...

...maybe we have a new annual visitor to the inland waters to add to the other humpbacks that are increasing in numbers in here...

...just after exiting Georgeson Pass going toward the harbor, one of the passengers spotted a mink! 

Excellent spotting!...and an excellent trip!