6-2-14 The Art of the Pec Slap

Monday, June 2nd
...repeat of yesterday!
...at the park really early some were up island...they were spread for miles...

...and then those who were up came back down...

...then up island again...and this time they continued north...but Oreo J-22 and her group stayed behind and did the west side shuffle to the park and back several times during the day....
...we didn't see them today on Maya's Westside Charters but we did see the other 13 whales who were present...

...they were full of energy with lots of play going on...

...a short clip of some of that play titled:
...The Art of the Pec Slap presented by Mike J-26...

...as they were not far past the lighthouse, I saw some splashing...it was a Steller sea lion eating something...

...it was hard to tell, but then I saw it's suction cups!...this is the second time in about a month we have seen a Steller eating an octopus!

...a Steller sea lion uses his teeth to hold on to his prey while he violently shakes his head back and forth to break it apart to eat...
...while out on the water today we saw another animal who uses his head...it's Tucker the whale poop sniffing dog!  He uses his nose!

...Tucker got to work today and found 4 samples! Link to Conservation Canines to learn more about their work.
...what a way to end a day:

...it's good to see them...and we figure the rest of J pod will show up soon...

...but the story of the day isn't over yet...tonight I heard, over the Lime Kiln hydrophones, the four whales in Oreo's group as they were echolocating off the lighthouse for probably the third trip up of the day...
...as they were drifting off I began to hear some faint J pod calls...sounded like maybe the others were coming back down, BUT there were no calls on the up island hydrophones (Orca Sound) to indicate this to be the case...
...and then...and then...the L12s began to 'talk' - OH, MY, GOODNESS - the L12s are here!!! Yikes!...and I heard way to many J pod calls for it to have just been the 4 whales in Oreo's group...I bet they brought the other two groups of J pod whales, the J11s and J17s, in with them!...I can hardly wait until tomorrow to find out!