Tuesday, October 29th
...Monday ended with plans to get certain things done on Tuesday...
...oh, well...
...interrupted by some whales !!
...it was only 24 minutes into the day...you know, like in the middle of the night, when something woke me up!
...below are some of the vocals as shown on a spectrogram, which shows the structure of the vocalization...
...I haven't heard that many humpbacks but I more look for the vocal to be on the low section on the sprectrogram (lower tone),
...so when I saw some that were quite high and looking somewhat similar to Southern Residents...hmmm
...well, I began to wonder...where there two species of whales I was hearing?
...after listening and re-listening to the recording, etc. I decided on humpbacks...
~~~
...little did I know I'd be listening to some more unusual sounds, midway through the day...from other whales - the Southern Residents !! - Yes !! ...they came back down from the north today and came past the park and down Haro Strait...
...I imagine they'll be in Puget Sound or headed west in the morning...
...but since they like to 'make a liar' out of me...just maybe they'll be on the west side - ha! ha!
Sunday, July 23rd
...yesterday, I happened upon this image from a few years ago...the orcas and gulls...and you know I have been watching for gulls that haven't been around much on the west side (a designated section only)...what had been common in the past just wasn't this year...and that means the lack of sightings of the Southern Residents and gulls and all kinds of things...so I started watching for gull activity, etc - hence the image...
...this morning when I went scanning I could see and hear gulls down island, much more activity than I had seen this year...yesterday in the mid-afternoon I heard over the Lime Kiln hydrophones one little squeak...immediately I went into orca-mode (whatever that is!) but didn't hear anything else the rest of the day...
...well, L Pod whales were seen off the lower west side in the early morning this morning (so I wonder if the hydrophones had picked them up briefly from a great distance-will never know)...and then J Pod whales were spotted in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, coming in, but they would take a while to get to the west side of the island...
...in the morning there were only a few L Pod whales who started coming up island...some of the L4s - Nugget L-55, Lapis L-103, Lazuli L-123, Surprise L-86...here's a few of them...
...a couple hours later J Pod entered Haro Strait and their calls could be heard over the Lime Kiln hydrophones...and of course, the L Pod whales could hear them too...there was no rush toward one another...some of the J Pod whales soon began angling toward the west side and the lighthouse...and here's who arrived first and 7 minutes ahead of any of the others...
...behind Shachi were some moms and their little ones...and it was a riot trying to figure out who was who - bright, glaring sunshine didn't help either...
Kiki J-53, Scarlet J-50, Sonic J-52, and their moms plus a few others were moving about so erratically you might have thought there were 4 or 5 little guys!...but there weren't...tried finding Eclipse J-41 and Nova J-51...saw them later in the day but not in this moms/kids early up island group...
...and soon they turned and went back down island...Shachi did too. I remember seeing this occurring with Granny sometimes too (I called it flexibility as a leader!)...
...Soundwatch was out there heading off private boats before they got into the whales...thanks Soundwatch! You don't get the kudos you deserve for all the hard work you do for the whales.
...soon the whales came back up island and socialized along Land Bank and Lime Kiln Pt. State Park...It is the first time since September 2016 that these J and L groups have been together in these waters!
...it was so busy with whales you didn't know which way to look next...they were definitely into socializing big time!
...they 'stayed and played' for a good while and then went back down island again...yes, again...
...and when they came back up Js and the Ls were all mixed together....it was now after 4pm and this time they would continue up island...the tide had changed to a flood and some of the whales just went with the flow, allowing the current to carry them along...others zoomed on by...
...as the last of the whales were going north I noticed the gulls...
...all the family groups of J Pod were present plus Onyx L-87 and the L Pod whales who were present were the L26s, L72s, L4s, and L47s...of the Ls I didn't see everyone of them but some members of each of the families...
...they looked very energetic, more interested in social time than foraging time...though what orca would pass up Chinook salmon if they saw some!
...they went north in the evening, perhaps to the Fraser River maybe to feast or to check it out...they'll be back down...just when is what we want to know...
...always on the lookout...even in my sleep!
this post is about Tuesday, July 18th
...here's more about the day full of L Pod whales along the west side of San Juan Island...
...they had been coming in through the Strait of Juan de Fuca, all day long...not sure if they would make it all the way in and across...had last seen them at almost dark on July 17th...
...so early in the morning on the 18th they were down island off False Bay area, spread out and foraging...after a while a few began slowly coming up island...
...Racer L-72, Fluke L-105, Kasatka L-82, Finn L-116, plus Nugget L-55 and one other were slowly going up island...but it was several hours before a small group made it almost up to the lighthouse...
...then turned and went back down island with the 'pooch in hot pursuit' (joking!)
...throughout the rest of the afternoon the whales were spread out...a few were up island along the Hannah Heights section...most were down off False Bay or South Beach...and at least one was way off shore...
...similar to the pooch...another unusual sighting...
...the mother and calf were Muncher L-91 and Magic L-122...they had gone up and were going back down island at that time...
...now it's three hours later - 7pm...and Moonlight L-83 and Midnight L-110
...behind Muncher L-47 and Mystic L-115 were Moonlight L-83 and Midnight L-110...they stopped to forage and spent about 10 minutes chasing salmon...
watching them as they worked together was fascinating...
...these two moved on north and it was apparent that others were coming north...this time it looked like all of them - The L26s, L72s, L55s, L86s, and L47s for a total of 19.
...they were really vocal when they passed the lighthouse and loud too and appeared to be in a very social mood...
...yes, the waters of the west side had come alive...even Rhinoceros auklets had lots to eat...
...the whales didn't go very far and turned and came back down island giving those on shore the opportunity for some wonderful sunset images while watching some very active orcas...
...after dark I heard them over the Lime Kiln hydrophones from about 9:50pm, for about 20 minutes...their calls were very faint...
...by this morning, July 19, it appeared they had headed back out to sea...
...we wait again and we watch the bird activity, the fish activity and the life changes in the waters along the west side...for they may give a clue as to when the next group of Southern Residents comes in...
Tuesday, July 18th
..yep, the first image I took today 7a.m.
...and the last image I took today...at sunset...at the lighthouse...
...worth every minute of waiting, scanning, scanning, waiting...
the day began...the day ended...with a whole lot of action in the middle...
...the L Pod whales, who are in here, did finally make it up past the lighthouse as the sun was setting and then they went back down island...
will post more later...too tired now :)
Saturday, June 17th
...after seeing the Transients in San Juan Channel while on the Western Prince, we headed over to the L Pod whales who just 'showed up' on the west side...
...this is the first time since last October that some of them have been this far in...I took a few images before getting some video...
...here's a brief clip with the hydrophones...they were quite vocal...
...then on the way back...
Thanks Capt. Dennis and the Western Prince!
...J Pod and several L Pod whales (about 17 of the group of 19) had come down Rosario Strait stopping off the lower end of San Juan Island...they spent the rest of the day coming part way up island and then heading offshore, changing direction from time to time...
...in the early morning, not knowing at that time where they were, I was at Lime Kiln Pt. State Park, just in case...
...I noticed something...
...a while later...I had to laugh at myself for getting excited about 15 gulls after some bait fish...
...that too has been a sign all season long...very few birds...we used to have lots of activity and each year it has become less and less...not good...
...late in the day Crewser L-92, Ballena L-90, and the six members of the L47 family group came up, far offshore from the lighthouse and then slowly made their way back down, going against a strong in coming current...
...and while I was putting this together I noticed the tiny nick on the leading edge!
...it looked like they would be gone back out toward the open ocean tomorrow...
...seems to be the pattern this month...in for a couple days and then back out again...
