11-30-13 From Shore and Boat at the Same Time!

Saturday, November 30th
...it was a quiet morning that 'exploded' in a good way...
...I got a call there was a humpback close to shore, just a mile north of me, possibly coming my way...Maya's Westside Charters had just left the Harbor and they spotted it before I could reach them...
...then a call about Transients near Friday Harbor...
...I called Hobbes and he told me 'they morphed' into Residents! (that happened to me on the 28th!)
...off and running to meet friends on their boat...Dave Ellifrit, of the Center for Whale Research was with us...and down island we went to meet the Residents...
...we turned up into San Juan Channel and could see them...

...at first it looked like the whales might go on the inside of Goose Island, but then they angled out and went along the outside...

...as we were approaching where there is good viewing from shore, I saw Ken Balcomb, the head of the Center for Whale Research...

I didn't know until later that he was taking video!...I'm sure that splash and what occurred just before it is on the video he took - YouTube video
...we all got to see the whales from shore and boat for this encounter...
...and I bet he got this cartwheel on the video too...

...the whales continued to be surface active...and Granny - I just love it when she gets so animated!

 ...and finishing her cartwheel...

...and then she rolls over and...

...as the whales continued on, Cattle Pt. lighthouse became the background focus...of course...get a whale breaching with the lighthouse in the background or something like that...well, did I get lucky or what!

...and one more time, but this time it was Racer L-72...

...the whales seemed to split off into groups as they were exiting the pass...Ivan of the Western Prince, along with Chris and Sarah were with a group...one of the little kids - J-49 - kept spyhopping, and spyhopping, and spyhopping...maybe he was trying to get one hundred last looks at Sarah before she left - she was moving to a different state - oh-no!

...there's a split going on...
...NOT everyone was present today...

who was present today?
Granny J-2, Onyx L-87, (by matriline number) J19s, J14s, K12s, K13s, L4s, L21s, L26s, L37s...there wasn't a superpod coming down San Juan Channel today...41 whales
...those who were present on November 28th and NOT present in San Juan Channel today (Nov 30) were: J pod Group B, L54s, L-84, L-88, J16s, K14s, K16s and K-21...30 whales


...the others may have been coming down Rosario or Haro Strait...I didn't see any in Haro...so many options as to where they could be...I guess that might be part of the 'next chapter in the lives of J, K and L pods' !