9-20-14 The Fish That Got Away

Saturday, September 20th
...Granny J-2 in the lead - normal - close behind her was four year old Saturna K-43 - not normal!...but Saturna's mom and brother were not too far behind...
...Tika K-33 was foraging...

...Onyx L-87 was quite a ways off shore as they headed up island...
...National Geographic ship and Lime Kiln lighthouse - never thought I get an image like that!

...I tried getting a picture of that ship with whales...someone on shore most likely did...most people don't like their whale pictures with boats in them, but that would have been one really neat one...
...other people don't like boats zooming through the whales...ugh!

...the J16s, K14s were coming up island too...I could see blows further down island but those whales didn't come up...and there were a lot of them down there including - I heard but did not see - the new baby L-120...so that most likely meant, based on who I saw yesterday, that the rest of J pod was down there and at least the 20 L pod whales were too...maybe all of them but I don't know...it is September and it seems to be a time of year they all gather...

...one member of the J16s, Alki J-36, was traveling and goofing around with the five members of the L55 family group...

...they were stopping and changing direction a lot, moving slowly...I guess they had some sorting out to do because the L55s went back down island and Alki caught up to her family group at some point...
...north of the lighthouse were the other members (3) of the J16s and a salmon that was probably swimming for his life!...the whales had others to get because this salmon just kept on going and the whales kept on foraging...

...lately the common question is about the whales continuing north or turning back south...we saw J-16, J-26, and J-42 heading back down island...Slick J-16 and Mike J-26 (Echo J-42 not surfacing) heading toward the lighthouse...

...so when we on Maya's Westside Charters saw whales coming up along Stuart Island at 4:15 - well that was a surprise it was the J16s!

...I imagine they had to go back and pick up Alki J-36 who had been with the L55s...

...today the ones who had gone north past Kellett Bluff continued north, though the K14s were far behind and the J16s were even farther behind Granny, Onyx, the J19s - who were back 'where they belong' - the J14s who were very stealthy...but I got one image of Hy'Shqa J-37 - whew!...and the K12s...that's just over 20 whales who went north...and possibly close to 60 who stayed south - that is IF the rest of the Community was present...