2-9-16 Orcas and Sea Lions

As of Tuesday, February 9th...

Quick check in on the 'burp' sounds and J Pod showing up (that was last year)
...so far this year:
...no 'burp' sounds on the Lime Kiln hydrophones - at all - none...
...and no J Pod presence either...so far...
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February 7th
...with an invitation from Capt. Hobbes, I went out on San Juan Island Whale and Wildlife Tours, out of Friday Harbor on a wildlife tour to see what we might see...
...as we approached the area of Whale Rocks...

...not something we like seeing, but it's part of the circle of life in the ocean...

...it is hoped that information gathered from this Steller sea lion will provide useful information...
...there were lots of Stellers on both sides of the main Steller haul out...

...the juvenile Stellers are not a common sight here...

...Cattle Pt. light and the Olympic mountains...

...little did I know I would be returning to this same area a couple days later on a different boat...
February 9th
...from another quiet morning of no whales, to the amazing energy of word of whales that gets everyone moving fast:
Someone happened to look out their window and spotted whales.
My phone rings.  I'm out the door.
I went looking but then another phone call let me know they were beyond my view.
About to drive south...another phone call had me turning toward the harbor to get on the boat.
Ready to leave the harbor I heard from someone they were seeing the whales off Cattle Pass...
...off we go on Maya's Legacy Charters with Andy at the helm, heading down island where whales were spotted earlier...

...no wonder the Stellers were 'worried' and watching...they most likely had heard the Transients as they were on their prey, because the whales were not far from where the Stellers were.

...the Ts went past where the Stellers were and then doubled back and then turned east, going along the inside of Low Island...

...they crossed over to the north side of that channel...they might have been going after something else or were eating something they had taken with them...

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...here's where we left them...

...the matriarch is T60...her offspring:  T60C - the sprouting teenager; T60D, T60E - with a slice kind of notch close to the top of the fin; T60F - the smallest/youngest one; and T2B - adult female who travels with this group...I have seen these whales only since 2012...before that I understand they didn't come into these waters around the San Juans Islands very often...now they are becoming 'regulars' !...that is at least for the last few years.
...they could be anywhere by tomorrow...