2-16-14 Oh, My, What A Surprise!

February 16, 2014
...you can tell from the title it was an exciting day!...'short trip' 11:00a.m.?...okay...the wind wasn't supposed to start until a while later, so a 'short' trip would be nice...see some eagles, harbor seals, and whatever else...
...well, whatever else - J POD!!!!!!
...too exciting!...the hydrophones had been completely quiet...so much to my surprise when I see Ken Balcomb of the Center for Whale Research down at the docks...hum...and he was stepping pretty quickly..."J POD" he tells me - wow!
...soon Capt. Jim comes walking down toward the boat and I motion the 'whale motion' and point...he sort of smiles..."Really!" I call out to him...
...the passengers were on their way to the boat and had no idea either.
...out of the harbor and straight across Haro to the west of Kelp Reef - and what a wild ride it was!
...Ken was already on scene...and there's Granny!!! 

...I'm always looking for her to make sure she is here and right off - there she is!  Yes!
...the seas got rougher on the west side of Kelp Reef...

...the whales were slowly going north...that's D'Arcy Island in the distance...

...good practice with fin tip IDs...

...of course the boys were easy...

...all of J pod was mixed together today...nice to actually SEE them and not just HEAR them...but now we listen intently for their return...I believe that in 2010, when they did this same sort of thing, they just kept going and didn't come back down...so the wait may be a long one...