7-29-15 Off to the Park to See What I Could See

Wednesday, July 29th
...almost missed them this morning...I hear one faint blip over the Lime Kiln hydrophones and I know they are at the park...
...by the time I get there a few had gone by...then Spock K-20 and Comet K-38 came along...

...a bit offshore and behind them was Scoter K-25...

...I had missed a few of the whales in the lead and could see a few over a mile offshore, but based on it only being K13 family members, for the time being I would assume it was the 7 members of the that family group...would they come back down in a short while or ???...

...meantime someone spotted a humpback whale on the west side...
...someone else encountered other Southern Residents off of Lopez Island...so maybe they didn't go up island last night?...and later others were seen going north in Rosario Strait...
...out on the Peregrine for an afternoon trip with Capt. David at the helm, we head down island...whales were spread for miles off the lower west side...
...we saw all three of the members of the 'Cookie' family...

...all of Slick J-16's family...

...and some of Sequim K-12's family...
...Tika K-33 was doing inverted tail lobs...

...for one of the passengers it was a special treat to see the lighthouse from the water...first time ever and she's lived here quite a while...this is DoubleStuf J-34 off the light...also farther down island were the J17s and the J11s...

...after getting home I heard echolocation clicks over the Lime Kiln hydrophones and could see a couple of the J16s not too far away, so off to the park to see what I could see...
...Mike J-26 had been in the research study area for two hours by the time I got there, and he was there another hour...

...then Slick J-16, J-50, and Echo J-42 came into the study area from the north and spent close to an hour before they went down island in the direction of Mike J-26...

...after coming back down closer to the lighthouse, Slick and J-50 turned and moved up island a short distance...

...Echo J-42, who had been up island from the lighthouse, was taking long dives...and surprised us...(Alki J-36 and baby J-52 were down island at this point)...

...many folks who were there hadn't ever seen an orca in the wild before...that's part of the specialness of it all, listening and watching as people's hearts are touched by these whales...
...no one can really explain it, it just happens, and it's pure magic!...(even for those of us who see them all the time, the magic never goes away)

...to ensure that more people have these magical experiences in years to come please call the White House Monday- through Friday, 9-5 Pacific Time, 202-456-1111, and tell the person on the other end of the line that your message is to ask President Obama to issue an Executive Order to Breach the Four Lower Snake River Dams to save the salmon, and the Southern Resident Community of Orcas.
And call everyday! It doesn't matter what phone you use, just call everyday.  You can have Saturday and Sunday off...:)