1-1-16 Ending and Beginning

Ending 2015
8:29 pm on December 31, 2015 K Pod calls start to faintly come over the Port Townsend hydrophones...the calls didn't last very long - at first - a ferry came through and then more faint calls until about 9:25 pm.
That was about the best way I could spend New Year's Eve!
Beginning 2016
39 minutes into 2016 K Pod calls - again!...only this time they were coming over the Lime Kiln hydrophones...very faint, lasting just a few minutes.  "On the right track." I thought to myself...

1 hour and 47 minutes into 2016 K Pod calls - again! They were still coming over the Lime Kiln hydrophones but this time they were a bit louder and lasted about 30 minutes...

K Pod most likely headed back out the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
~~
Ending
Succession of births
Perhaps the whales, for the time being, have ended this succession of births.

Beginning
Taking care of those babies
Perhaps the whales are back in their 'routine', now that the babies are born.
-When looking back at all the things that occurred with the whales during 2015, what stands out are the unusual groupings, unusual travel locations, actually just about everything.  What was most unusual was the birth of 8 babies.  It all makes sense now.

~~
Last year at this time there were what I called 'fish sounds' or 'burp sounds' that got my attention.  In years past I had noticed a relationship to those sounds and to when the whales would show up, so last year I got diligent in recording what and when.  There was a definite relationship between those sounds and then the appearance of the whales. It wasn't about fish that the whales were eating but instead it was about these fish sounds (burps) that occurred before the whales showed up, sometimes by several days and then ended when the whales arrived.
Observations of SRKWs and Fish Sounds - 3-10-15

The "Paul Revere' of the Whales Are Coming - 3-18-15

Those Fish Sounds and Then - 3-30-15

Ending
Fish Sounds tracking Spring 2015

The end of March got very busy.  The fish sounds diminished and with three new babies the variables changed.

Beginning
Fish Sounds tracking Winter 2015
Since J Pod, especially, has been gone for many days now - last seen on 12/22 - it's a good time to start paying attention to see what occurs this winter:  basically it's what sounds increase in frequency in the hours or days before the whales show up?

So far, for at least the past week there have been no fish sounds over the hydrophones at all. 
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The Southern Resident Killer Whales are endangered because they don't have enough food to eat - #1 basic need - food.
Basic need from the humans:  make sure you do everything you can to see that these whales have a chance at survival into the future. 
Sign the Petition
Send it on to your friends
Make the Phone Calls
Write letters
There's lots of information here:

Southern Resident Killer Whale Chinook Salmon Initiative

Also support:
The Whale Museum

The Center for Whale Research

Check out their Facebook pages - lots of good information there as well.

I can write about it over and over, but if people only want to see these magnificent animals and yet not take the time to act on their behalf, well, then...
...every little action you take for the whales is a helpful action...