Wednesday, July 18, 2018

7-18-18 SRKWs Mixing It Up

Monday-Wednesday, July 16-18
A quick accounting of the last few days, lest I get lost in all this mixing up...I care but the whales don't...they just want salmon, please...

Wednesday 7-16
Only the 10 J Pod whales who were present yesterday, were seen today.
The J16 family of 5, and 5 of the J17 family.  It appears that Star J-46 was likely with Tsuchi J-31 or Suttles J-40 and the rest of J Pod who had gone west towards the open ocean. (fast forward to the 18th - Star J-46 was with her family.)
The J16s and J17s spent their day traveling southeast the Strait of Georgia, passing Pt. Roberts and heading toward Rosario Strait late in the day.

 
Tuesday 7-17
The 10 SRKWs who have been in the Salish Sea, had evidently come down Rosario Strait in the night because they were seen coming up the west side of San Juan Island where they spent most of the day between Eagle Pt. to just north of Lime Kiln.  In the late afternoon, after they had passed Lime Kiln and were at Andrews Bay, to the north, other whales - K Pod whales showed up, totally unexpectedly.  No one knew they were 'in', likely because the seas in Juan de Fuca were rough.
The whales present now totaled at least 21 (some Js and some Ks) and all went back down island.  They could be heard over the Lime Kiln hydrophones until about 22:45, until drowned out by ship noise.
 
Wednesday 7-18
Today the total # of SRKWs was 24.  All of J Pod and one L Pod whale who travels exclusively with J Pod. 
The K Pod whales who were here yesterday were not seen anywhere today.

The whales were in Haro Strait all night on the 17th, and into the 18th, the majority of them heading north towards Active Pass.
There was a small group of five, who stayed along the west side of SJI.
Of those five, three had come up island passing the lighthouse in the morning with the all of J Pod, except Blackberry J-27...but then, about an hour later, the three - Tsuchi J-31, Oreo J-22, and Cookie J-38, left the large group and came back down island to where Blackberry J-27 and Onyx L-87 were.
Late in the day they came up island at about 9pm and could be heard over the Lime Kiln hydrophones until around 11p.m., (while I was writing this post) Onyx L-87 continued vocalizing his distinctive call well into the distance.
...interesting to note...when he did this before it was like he was calling out to others, perhaps other Ls...and the following day it showed that maybe he had, because when he was seen he was with L Pod whales incoming - that was a few years ago...still gets one to wonder...so we shall see what, if anything, occurs.
 
Food for thought: 
Are they splitting and mixing in order to find enough food?
 
 

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