9-6-14 All Three Pods Returned - Plus ONE!

Saturday, September 6th
...with great anticipation I hoped to hear the vocalizations of the Residents on the hydrophones during the night...but all was quiet...
...that didn't mean they weren't here...
...because here came Granny J-2 leading the way...it was about 8 a.m.

...Slick J-16 was traveling near Granny...Mike J-26 was in the mix...

...then came (in no special order) Onyx L-87, Alki J-36, Shachi J-19, Eclipse J-41, the J14s...but Echo J-42 was nowhere to be seen......it took close to two hours before Group A passed by Lime Kiln lighthouse...and Echo still wasn't there...

...it was not only a busy morning watching the water for the whales...a California sea lion came by - whale watching too it appeared - probably for his safety...

...a Kingfisher...

...and then some mergansers too...

...off in the distance, down island, we could see more blows...okay, who could this be?...

...Princess Angeline J-17, Moby J-44, Tahlequah J-35, Notch J-47, Rhapsody J-32, Echo J-42, and Mako J-39 - until he changed direction and moved on out to be with his brother Blackberry J-27 and sister Tsuchi J-31...behind them came Polaris J-28 and Star J-46...
...on up island they went...there were a few whales really far offshore...not sure who...but it looked like we had just about all of J pod going north...



...out on Maya's Westside Charters...we traveled with the whales until Turn Pt. lighthouse...I know Capt. Jim has been wanting a breach in front of Turn Pt. lighthouse...he got it today, thanks to Shachi J-19...I was almost too late but managed to get her as she was just coming down for the landing...

...this next part of the day is rather comical I think...we went into Roche Harbor for fuel and came down Mosquito Pass, which is on the east side of Henry Island...at that same time K pod was going up Haro Strait off the west side of Henry Island!...we had no idea we had completely missed K pod (except for K-21, K-16, and K-35)...
...but things always work out, because if we had known that K pod was so close we would have gone with them...instead we went down island to see the L pod whales...
...that's where the Plus ONE comes in...

...It is 2 years and one month since the last surviving baby was born into the Southern Resident Community. It's not only time to celebrate but maybe it's time to re-look at what needs to be done for this population to survive and grow again. We certainly need more than just hope.