One Day Joy the Next Day Shock & Sadness

August - one day joy and the next shock & sadness.

J Pod & the L12s were last seen in the inland waters on July 4th and last seen heading west in the Strait of Juan de Fuca on July 5th. K Pod & the rest of L Pod had not come all the way in to Haro Strait yet this season. Now, 8/17, members of J, K & L pods were incoming!

It was mid-afternoon when they were seen coming up island toward Lime Kiln lighthouse. They didn't just pass by.  Instead for the next few hours there were very many energetic whales. It had been a long time since seeing such a large grouping with lots of behaviors during an extened time, going up-island & a few minutes later the same group going back down...no, wait!...they changed direction again...and again.  At times it was challenging to keep up with all the social and energetic SRKWs. They seemed to be celebrating their return.  They know the Lime Kiln lighthouse area and often come in close to shore, passing through kelp, where salmon will often be. It appeared that a large amount of salmon had come in and most of them eventually followed the salmon north. A few images to show some of what occurred:

While so many people were glad to see the SRKWs back in the inland waters, it wasn't known that Lolita, aka Tokitae, was dying. There was great anticipation that she was coming 'home' to the Pacific Northwest after 53 years in captivity, but for some reason it wasn't to be. It came as a shock to all. There has been anger, sadness, shock, lots of questions as to why? - Why was she doing so well and all of a sudden gone? So many have written many wonderful words honoring Tokitae. 

If each of us are willing to look back... look at what she taught you over many years. There's a saying 'each one teach one'.  Yep, that's what she had done all these years but did we notice?  She is free now and her spirit will carry on and perhaps cause positive changes for those who care to think deeply about what she 'gave each of us' even if you have never been to see her. She will live on in our hearts and perhaps 'ah-ha' moments will cause you to smile because you just realized what she was teaching you. 

9-27-2020 K Pod Sounds from Above and Below

 September 27

since my last post...

-Tahlequah J-35 has had a new baby...given the alpha-numeric designation by the Center for Whale Research, as J-57...they have been seen several times, and every sighting helps one feel a bit more hopeful for the mom and the calf's survival...

-20 days later Eclipse J-41 had a new baby...seen only once...the Center for Whale Research has NOT yet given this calf an alpha-numeric designation...why?...that's their protocol and they said they will wait until the calf is seen again...

I worry about moms being okay...and just maybe they will be and their babies will too as well as the rest of the whales...they have spent more time off the outer coast than in these inland waters in the last few years...maybe that's a good thing...maybe by not being in here as much they are getting healthier - one can hope...

Since I've been watching these whales and of course for years before, September has been thought to be one of the best months and that's due to the salmon runs...

...on 9-26 there was word that there were whales inbound but they were not actually seen later in the day...and then today 9-27 were seen and they showed up off the west side of the island!  of course that wasn't just about or until after dark (depending on where you were), so when I heard that whales were getting closer to the island I thought I would go to the shoreline, somewhere, and see what I might see...

...that was a surprise...so close to shore...and just hanging out...talk about 'right place right time'! even if it was just for a few seconds...well, the sun was starting to fade so I thought I would wait it out a while...

...then it got dark...I waited...waited...then in the distance I heard a blow!...they are coming...wait...get to a spot where I would have the best chance of catching their surface sounds as they passed by...little did I know... here are a few clips...the screen is dark cause it was dark outside...it's the surface sounds...(I'm not very savvy on how to combine all these into one so here you go...)

surface sounds...

inhale sound and more surface sounds...  the 'inhale sound' is at about 6 seconds and it is very faint (sounds like one tone of a flute)...it is high pitched but not sharp in tone...this sound caught my attention because it is a sound that Ino L-54 has made for years...I first heard it back in 2007 and she still makes that sound...Spieden J-8 had it too, and I heard it with a couple other J Pod whales when I was actually seeing them...SO...I wondered who this was, since it was supposed to be only K Pod going by...

...surface slaps sounds...

 ...all this above surface I just wondered what their sounds were like over the hydrophones...you can hear some of the percussive sounds from their slaps and of course wild, wild vocalizations...I could see the water moving and knew they were right above the hydrophones...stunning!

..their vocals didn't last long but I had to make it in two clips...

...here is the second part of the vocals...

it appears that only one of the three groups that passed by vocalizing, because all three were very close...that's what the recording 'said'...

...If I hadn't been where I was and if I didn't already know that sound it might not have registered...but I do and it did.

I'm still curious as to who has that unusual 'inhale' sound...sounds like one tone of a flute is the only way I can describe it...it could just be one of the K Pod whales...and it too will eventually go away like it did for a couple of the J Pod whales several years ago...

...this year my ears have sure been 'called on' a lot to 'see' the whales!  

Tuning up the senses I guess!!

7-1-2020 Say What? - K Pod? Here? Yep!

Wednesday, July 1st  Part 1

...The K12s and the K13s were encountered by researchers at the far northern reaches of these inland waters.  The whales had entered from the north, coming through Johnstone Strait.  Two mornings later they passed by Lime Kiln lighthouse, undetected by anyone looking from shore...that was at about 8:45-9:00 a.m. 
...then I received a message  - I'm running!!! -(thank you very much!!) that whales were going down island...
...got to where I could see them in the distance...plus a couple other things too...

...the whales were spread out and continued down island...seems that those fishing boats also were wanting salmon...Leave it for the whales, PLEASE!
...get into the car and drive down island to see...they were there for a while and then began to head back up...still spread out...

...back in the car and back up island...the tide was flooding (going the same direction as the whales) giving the whales a bit of a 'ride' as they moved along...
...I got to the park and saw...

...which meant the researchers could see the whales and/or boats who were with them...
...which way to look?...she's looking directly down island...okay!...it was now 1:10...

...There's Eba...we saw them at South Beach...they are behind the whales a good distance...Eba the 'whale poo sniffing dog'.  Thanks Eba, Giles and Jim for gathering information!

...the K12s have two adult males - Rainshadow K-37 and Tika K-33

...the K13s have one adult male - Cali K-34 and one adult female who is often mistaken for a sprouting male...Spock K-20...

...not in that close but it didn't matter it was good to see them here...

...BUT that's not all of the day...it is only getting started...

...Part 2 of July 1 with K Pod whales will be my next post.

Hope you can enjoy being here virtually (sort of) during this time.

Stay safe...

7-5-19 Part 3 - A Stunning Day On the West Side

7-5-19

Parts 1 and 2 are on the two previous posts.
This is part 3, and it is only from 9 to 10 a.m. !

...some highlights from hour 3...

...it takes me a while to get encounters completed.  I want the sequence, I want to know who is with who, what's going on, and of course then comes the wondering why (sometimes)...
Savoring each and every encounter with the endangered Southern Residents is what it is all about, for me anyway...


...there's more to come in part 4...

2-16-17 K Pod Was With J Pod Today

Thursday, February 16th
...9:35 a.m. - faint Southern Resident calls...
...out the door...
...located one of them!...several miles from shore...then another...
...they appeared to be coming in from Discovery Island direction and heading across...
...the seas were lumpy and it was starting to rain...
...ran into Michael the Orca airplane fella who now lives in the middle east...he was surprised to see whales and glad they were here so his friend from Japan could see them...
...funny thing to see 'Michael' because this post is mainly about Mike - the orca - J-26 that is...


...three whales were already past the lighthouse...
...then came Eclipse J-41 and Nova J-51, and another surfaced at a tough-to-ID angle...but it looked like Moby J-44...
...some whales were very far offshore...the only way I saw them was because of the splash from some surface action...
...the hydrophones 'told me' that the whales who were close were J Pod and that some of the distant whales were J and K pod whales...been a long while since we've heard K pod calls.

...then Mike J-26 shows up...close in...

...farther off were his sister, Alki J-36 and her offspring, Sonic J-52...


...Mike, Alki, and Sonic were the nearest and were moving up island at a steady but not fast pace...
...they pass the lighthouse and a few minutes later Mike surfaces near a kelp bed where he often forages and seemed to begin showing forage behavior...

...but a moment later he surfaces traveling at a fast pace, across Haro Strait in the other direction and toward Discovery Island...first thought was that he was after a salmon...but when he kept on going...and going...

...it was about 11:30 when I last saw him still traveling away at a fast pace...

...a long time later at about 12:55 the rest of the J16s came back down island and spent time foraging offshore (a good distance) from the lighthouse...

...Slick moved up island leaving Echo J-42 and Scarlet J-50 traveling together... a good distance behind them came Alki and Sonic back up island...
...offshore of them was Mike...it was now 1:15...
...no telling what he had been doing for the last 2 hours...maybe he found some salmon somewhere...

...they continued up island slowly...Dave from the Center for Whale Research told me he last saw Mike at about 5:15 between Kellett Bluff and Battleship Island...after what Mike did earlier who knows where the rest of the family was...
...all the others were far up ahead at Turn Pt...

...so the question is...will the J16s catch up with the rest of J Pod and K Pod or will they split off like they sometimes do...


...so here's what my camera said: images of some members of most of the family groups in J Pod - J44, J39, J16s, J41 and J51, and most of the family groups in K Pod - K33, K37, K25, K26...
...and here's another I found...also gives you an idea of how far from shore most of them were...I kept deliberating between Onyx L-87 and Sonata K-35...

8-8-16 They Arrived One Month Later

Monday, August 8th
...they, meaning K Pod, arrived 'one month later,' meaning one month later than the latest they have ever arrived in prior years...
...no matter their arrival time, everyone is glad they are here...
...but let's start early in the morning...by the time I got to the park whales (who?) had already passed by going up island...along came Alki J-36 and Sonic J-52...and they spent a good deal of time foraging...I was wondering if Sonic was getting some 'fishing' lessons...and in the end it looked like mom had 'made contact' with a salmon!...soon they too headed up island...I didn't see another whale for a few hours...

...and then they came...

...the K13s were in the first group...

...and mixed in with them were the J19s!...friends spending time with friends they haven't seen in a while perhaps...

 ...during the pass by and hearing the vocals...I heard some very distant J Pod calls...so I knew that other J Pod whales were off shore...I got a quick shot of Onyx L-87 - oh, from a couple miles out...but that gave a clue as to who might be out there..and a clue as to who was up north already (the J16s)!

...other whales remained off the lower end of the island...they didn't come up...maybe they will and maybe they won't...

...just after the last of the up island whales left the area these two oyster catchers...well, they were fascinating to watch...the adult kept pulling limpets off the rock, loosening them in the shell and then either letting the juvenile take it from the shell or the adult had the limpet in its beak and gave it to the juvenile...

...late in the day I had a conversation with a couple folks, one a kayak guide...and a question was asked as to what might be a take away for visitors...by the end of our conversation it became clear that we all have a passion and by sharing about the environment, the salmon issues, the orcas, and this local ecosystem is a great take away...
...passion is a 'whole package' it's not just one thing...