7-18-16 Orca Action on the West Side Again!

Monday, July 18th
...bald eagles at American Camp...this was from July 17th...had come down here looking for the L12s who had been spending many days along the lower end of the island...this bald eagle nest is in a great location (easy viewing) right from the parking lot and a closer nest than the previous one that, I think, was demolished (nest and branches) in a wind storm a couple winters ago.

...23 hours later, sitting at Lime Kiln lighthouse, some orcas were coming up island...

...but who were they???...

...and behind her...

...next came Kasatka L-82 and Finn L-116...that's interesting!

...then Cookie J-38...he was a bit farther offshore...also out there was Nugget L-55...DoubleStuf J-34 and Oreo J-22 were in closer to shore and so was Takoda L-109...they were surfacing individually as they moved north...

...a few minutes later Cookie was way farther off in the distance chasing salmon!

...up ahead of him was Lapis L-103 and her offspring L-123...interesting to note is that Takoda L-109, Lapis L013 and calf, and their mom Nugget L-55 were traveling about parallel with one another though spread across for close to a mile...
...a half hour later...

...a few minutes later...

...from first seeing them (four images up) it was a span of about 10 minutes...

...under the surface, at the surface, heading in toward the kelp...they appeared to be in a social mood...

...folks on the rocks up island, from where I was, were pretty intent...

...in this group was Granny J-2, Onyx L-87, the J14 family and the J16 family...and just behind them was fog moving in fast...off to County Park hoping the fog would not reach the shore up there...

...it was only noon when the whales passed by going north, hopefully to find enough salmon along the way and at the Fraser River...

...interesting to note:  the J11 group - Blackberry J-27, Tsuchi J-31, and Mako J-39 appear to be making some changes...will have to continue to watch this family group and see how this chapter in their lives unfolds...