6-25-17 J Pod and Others All Day Long - Part 2

June 25th - Part 2 
...all day the whales went up island, then back down island, up island, and back down...
...it was a stunning day...but how one describes it isn't that easy.
...filled with close passes along the shore line - like they used to do...
.....with family groups tightly together - like the used to do...
......with energetic, playful-looking groups...
.......moving with an electricity that seemed to come from them to us.

When you see the whales doing what they used to do, after having watched them for the last few years in a very different and concerning way, it brought this person hope - hope for the whales.

But in reality it all has to unfold and may it please unfold for them with salmon, salmon, salmon - that is what they need - more than anything.

Here are some images from the day:

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...and it wasn't even noon yet...soon they went back up island...

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...the K14s chose the shore side...

...yes, it was a most extraordinary day, a day we haven't seen like this in a very long time...many possibilities for reasons why, but for now we're just very glad to see the whales getting food to sustain them...may that trend continue...

...and tomorrow?   MORE SALMON PLEASE!

 

8-9-16 Will They Stay or Go West Again?

Tuesday, August 9th
...early afternoon the whales who had gone up the day before came back down along the west side of San Juan Island...
...the group who had stayed down island yesterday were still down island...


...the whales continue to be spread far and wide...it continues to appear they are finding what they can as they move along...
...the salmon situation does not seem to be improving, but everyday we hold out some hope that it will...
...here are some images as they passed by Lime Kiln Pt. State Park...

...it will not be surprising if the whales continue out to the west again...this is a pattern this year...they certainly are letting the humans know:
'There Is NOT Much Salmon In Here!'
 
 

10-10-14 Whales From Sun Up to Sun Down

Friday, October 10th
...listening to the hydrophones for any hint of whales in the area has not been very fruitful over the last few days...
...covered in fog, so visual was out of the question much of the time...

...I happened upon an online video of whales vocalizations recorded and in the title was the word 'rare'...I immediately wondered where that would be...
Ketchikan, Alaska...
here's the link to the audio... https://screen.yahoo.com/videos-for-you/hydrophone-captures-whales-talking-rare-140843864.html
...it's a great example of hearing the 'language' of other whales...I don't know who they are...there is one call that is repeated over and over...I imagine whoever studies whales in those waters might know...

...evidently 'J Pod heard I was going to write about someone else talking, so they decided to give me something to compare it to'...in other words they showed up on the Lime Kiln hydrophones at 5:39 a.m. thank you very much!
...I only heard faint calls, lasting about 25 minutes...this time I was blinded by the darkness of the hour...and then fog...
...it wasn't until about 10:30 a.m. or so that I heard faint calls...'they're coming up!'...off to the park - completely socked in- arrgh!...but soon it began to lift...enough to see a little bit...

I heard K Pod calls...
...for your listening pleasure Lobo K-26 and his brother Kelp K-42 were passing by...

...then a bit later Lea K-14, Kelp K-42, and Yoda K-36 (not shown here) came back down...Lobo had gone way off shore by this time...

...off to go out on Maya's Westside Charters, I wanted to see all who were present...or should I say 'who got a birthday present' - Toby!

...the seas were rolly and choppy making it easier to spot those with the tall dorsal fins...

 

 ...Mike was offshore and Onyx was more inshore...

 ...the boat rolled one way when i wish it had rolled the other!

...one looked to be spyhopping, but then there was this strange something going on...

...Lobo, who had been with Granny J-2 when we had first arrived on scene, was now with Mike J-26...this was very interesting to watch...

...it was definitely fun attempting to take pictures through windows today!

...then I get home only to find out that the whales are coming up island...I had seen a couple Kingfishers at the harbor...glad I stopped to grab a few shots...

...the fog was gone, the rain was coming, and it was getting darker...

...under some trees to try to keep the camera dry...ha!

...the whales were not in close, but when I looked at my images...there was Moby J-44 having some fun with some kelp on his rostrum...

...difficult to see...he is on his back and has a piece of kelp draped over his mouth...

...the whales sounded more social and less food searching...and I know that at least Moby was having fun!

...by the end of the day, between the shore and the boat encounters, I did get to see some members of Group A and Group B [J11s, J22s (or J10s), J17s], and the four K14s...we had close to 30 whales here...a lot more than I had thought earlier in the day!

9-20-14 The Fish That Got Away

Saturday, September 20th
...Granny J-2 in the lead - normal - close behind her was four year old Saturna K-43 - not normal!...but Saturna's mom and brother were not too far behind...
...Tika K-33 was foraging...

...Onyx L-87 was quite a ways off shore as they headed up island...
...National Geographic ship and Lime Kiln lighthouse - never thought I get an image like that!

...I tried getting a picture of that ship with whales...someone on shore most likely did...most people don't like their whale pictures with boats in them, but that would have been one really neat one...
...other people don't like boats zooming through the whales...ugh!

...the J16s, K14s were coming up island too...I could see blows further down island but those whales didn't come up...and there were a lot of them down there including - I heard but did not see - the new baby L-120...so that most likely meant, based on who I saw yesterday, that the rest of J pod was down there and at least the 20 L pod whales were too...maybe all of them but I don't know...it is September and it seems to be a time of year they all gather...

...one member of the J16s, Alki J-36, was traveling and goofing around with the five members of the L55 family group...

...they were stopping and changing direction a lot, moving slowly...I guess they had some sorting out to do because the L55s went back down island and Alki caught up to her family group at some point...
...north of the lighthouse were the other members (3) of the J16s and a salmon that was probably swimming for his life!...the whales had others to get because this salmon just kept on going and the whales kept on foraging...

...lately the common question is about the whales continuing north or turning back south...we saw J-16, J-26, and J-42 heading back down island...Slick J-16 and Mike J-26 (Echo J-42 not surfacing) heading toward the lighthouse...

...so when we on Maya's Westside Charters saw whales coming up along Stuart Island at 4:15 - well that was a surprise it was the J16s!

...I imagine they had to go back and pick up Alki J-36 who had been with the L55s...

...today the ones who had gone north past Kellett Bluff continued north, though the K14s were far behind and the J16s were even farther behind Granny, Onyx, the J19s - who were back 'where they belong' - the J14s who were very stealthy...but I got one image of Hy'Shqa J-37 - whew!...and the K12s...that's just over 20 whales who went north...and possibly close to 60 who stayed south - that is IF the rest of the Community was present...

8/3-5/14 Keeping the Fraser River Close

Sunday, August 3rd
...last night they went north toward the Fraser River...today they started to come back down, but they didn't even get to East Pt. when they turned and headed back toward the Fraser River...
...I guess that goes along with the local news article I just read that salmon fishing is slow in the San Juans now...
...out on Maya's Westside Charters...heading toward the Coal Docks as fast as we could, since the whales were going away from us...
...on the way there one of our passengers, young Eloise, was telling us the names of the whales and she had them all correct!
...when one of the whales breached, she just had to know who it was because, as she said, "that's the whale I want to adopt!" - adorable... (you can do that through the Orca Adoption Program of The Whale Museum)...
...well that breaching whale, who breached several times, was Shachi J-19...

 

...the whales we were seeing were Group A and the K14s...the same whales who have been the only whales in here in the last couple weeks...
...we don't often get this far north...

...then on the way back another boat radios Capt. Jim to let him know that Transients are up ahead!...what corner did they come around?...did we all pass them by on the way to see Granny J-2 and her group?...I wonder...

...a quick stop and then we were on our way to the harbor...we had come a long distance...

Monday, August 4th
...the whales came back today in the afternoon, passing Lime Kiln lighthouse in the mid afternoon...I'm not sure I understand why kayakers can park in the path of whales...

...he has grown so very much!

...Conservation Canines dog Tucker...

Tuesday, August 5th
...at 2:18 in the middle of the night I heard Transient calls over the Lime Kiln hydrophones but no Resident calls...last night there was a report of lots of whales inbound so I was expecting to hear Resident calls...

...but the Residents were 'un-locate-able' in other words - gone...
...so Tuesday became a 'boat day'...

...gotta have a certain toughness to do that!

...then I saw this and got fully disheartened...

...maybe it was a test set...I don't know...but there just hasn't been much salmon in here...
...and I'll keep saying, "maybe that will change tomorrow"...
...that was it!...no more boats for me for today...and no Residents around anywhere...