7/7-8/13 Welcome Back Whales!

July 7/8th, 2013
...Monday began as Sunday did, with the L22s at their 'usual' location...but that was soon to change when word came that there were bunches and bunches of whales 'In Bound'!  
...today, July 8th is the latest in the year, as far as I know of, for K Pod's first appearance of the season...
...today, had J Pod not returned it would have been the 29th day since they were in these waters...that may be a record (a record that means not enough food)...
...had no whales returned today it would have been the 7th day in a row that the L22s were in here without any other Southern Residents...

...it was a shore day for me...
here are some of the highlights...Ripple K-44 seemed to be in good energy...two years and two days ago was the first time this little guy was ever seen...it was 6:45 a.m. at Lime Kiln Pt. State Park...I was standing on the shore watching the whales passing by, when Deadhead K-27 surfaced and next to her was a tiny calf!
...here is 2yr and 2day old K44 today...

...and he was having some fun!

...when the J-14s came along, it seemed that newly named J-49 was going to outdo K-44...J-49 was named in a Samish Indian Nation Naming Ceremony, just like Se-Yi-Chn J-45 and his two sisters...visit The Whale Museum to learn more about J-49's name...

...it seems that Group A and B are still in their groupings, with the J16s being 'floaters'-moving back and forth between the two groups...
...when I looked at my images of Scoter K-25, the whale who had been satellite tagged on December 29th, and even with a poor quality image of him from in the distance I could see where his tag had been...
...July 8, 2013...

...December 30th - day after he was tagged...

...I'll leave it to the Center for Whale Research and their expertise regarding these types of situations...but I wanted to show what I could see from probably a 1/4 mile away while standing on shore yesterday...

...part of Group B, Blackberry J-27 and Mako J-39, came north with the L22s and with Calypso L-94 and Cousteau L-113...I've seen J-27 and J-39 many times in the past with Spirit, Skana and Solstice...and yes, they 'moved off' their 5+ days in one spot!
...Mako J-39 with Spirit L-22 just about to surface...

...and then a while later Spirit spyhopped!

...all the while all this was going on, Crewser L-92 was foraging at about the 1/2 mile mark...there was a big flood tide occurring...most of the time he spent facing into that current but not really going anywhere...after over 2 hours of being pretty much in the same place, he then moved on down island...

...so, they are here...

...we are all glad...

Will the whales be 'glad' they came back here?

Will they find enough salmon to fill them up and sustain them?

or

Will they leave again soon because there just isn't enough to eat?