6-14-19 Whales and Whales But No SKRWs

Friday, June 14th
...been without internet for a week now...ugh...
...but then again not a whole lot to post...
...except that the new J Pod baby, J-56, was seen with Tuschi J-31 again about a week ago...that was near Tofino again...
(note: I have not seen an 'official announcement' about the new baby, but I did see on a Center for Whale Research post where they mentioned both of the new calves, L-124 (first seen in January 2019) and J-56 (first seen on May 30, 2019)...so that's official enough for me.)

...I don't know of any other sightings of any of the SRKWs since then...
...there was a report with video of a large group of transients moving up the Oregon coast...then four or five days ago a large group of killer whales, unknown eco-type, near the entrance to the Strait of Juan de Fuca...
...it was likely some if not all of those Ts who have shown up over the last several days...
...but before that there had been a humpback or two...one afternoon the best one could do was to get some of the exhalations of those two humpbacks...

...a couple days ago, I think it was the T124As who were seen passing County Park...missed them...went back to land bank...got a call from a friend telling me there were whales coming up island (thank you very much!) - what?...how long ago?...just now?...and here came another group, the T73As, that I've only seen once, and with them T75 and her oldest offspring, T75A, who has a very tall, and wavy/wonkie dorsal fin...
...will post pictures of them later--okay here they are:

...amazing...they passed the lighthouse along the edge of the kelp, turned on their sides as they did - just under the surface...maybe checking out those kayakers who were properly parked deep in the kelp and appeared to be 'frozen' !!  I followed them, from shore, for as long as I could, last seeing them as they rounded the corner of Spieden Island...
...then today, many whales inbound - I'd like it to be SRKWs of course, but it was Ts...several groups spread out...one was T77A, a bachelor, known for playing with crab pot lines or things like that...he made it to Haro Strait and came up island far from shore...the others were in the Strait of Juan de Fuca but so far hadn't come into Haro Strait...
...BUT, before that another group was spotted from shore in the early morning but it took several hours before they reappeared again...and when they did they came up island...
...they have passed by Lime Kiln lighthouse many times in the past...and today was no different...and boy were they close!
I'm always looking for boats flying the Whale Warning flag...everyone that does is helping to educate those on the water who may not be aware that whales are present...or those on the water who are not paying attention...the flag is bright and obvious, but only obvious if boats are flying the flag when with whales...today I saw this boat, Outer Island, and of course Soundwatch...

...there is a 6th member of this family group, T49A2...a male who decided to disperse from his family at an age younger than most...of course, he also had spent more time with his aunt than his mom when he was young, so something was going on there...anyway, no telling when/where/with whom he will appear with...

...where are J, K, and L Pods?  Out in the open ocean.
...why aren't they here?  lack of food most likely, possibly the loss of a strong leader or re-forming, which could take a long time, after the loss of Granny J-2 in late 2016.

...oh, so sorry, but to not have had internet for a whole week (poor me)...I am just running at the keyboard!

Last week I began a 30 challenge - purchasing nothing that comes in a plastic container.
...so far I have learned that I will automatically reach for a product and then realize it's in a plastic container.  Oh, no! ...so I have to look for something similar that is not...It's quite an eye opener.

Oh, how we are accustomed to convenience...convenience that will someday 'bite' us all if we don't stop now.


 

3-24-19 Another Day Another Group of Orcas

March 24th
...before leaving the harbor...the first orca of the day...love seeing that Kenmore plane...

...still in the harbor but heading out, now there are two orcas in view...

 ...no word on any other whales at that time...but it wasn't long before someone spotted a group, who turned out to be the T49As...they have been spending a good deal of time among the islands lately, sort of how the T65As had been in recent years...

 ...another Whale Warning flag hoisted!  
Thank you Pelagic, Deer Harbor Charters, for flying the flag!
Not only will people on the boat learn what that pretty flag is all about, other boaters will see it and hopefully slow down and pay attention...the more flags flying the better for everyone !

 

10-6-18 Killer Whales at the Lighthouse Today

Saturday, October 6th
...the rain had come yesterday and today was a beautiful day...
...off to the lighthouse to talk to folks today and hope that J Pod might reappear...haven't seen them since they went north on Oct. 3rd...no telling where they are...but not seen nor heard from in the last few days...
...meanwhile some Ts showed up!  Now that was interesting...All of a sudden some boats began appearing from down island...
...it was the T49As and the T65As...both families have a teen/adult male...both families have a baby - one about a year old and the other about 5 months old...both families have a few other kids mixed in the middle...
...when they passed the lighthouse today, there were two who went by - 'middle-school' sized kids...a good distance behind them were the two 'big-boys'...and far offshore were the rest of them...and they were split into a couple groups for a while too...
...they went by at a steady pace but spread out...

...a woman told me that she had walked along the path from the parking lot to the 'wall' (at the south end of the park) not thinking she would see any whales - you know there is a sign that points to that path that says something about whale viewing...(ha-ha)!
...well, she is now officially spoiled...because no sooner did she get there is when the two 'big boys' surfaced right in front of her!!!

...while I was putting pics together tonight...I heard Ts over the Lime Kiln hydrophones for close to 2 hours...interrupted by some loud ship noise...but they were still there...it's now about 10:35pm and it's quiet now...no ship or killer whale calls...at the moment...but that can change at any time...

...hoping to hear J Pod - maybe?...will find out at some point...



 

4-15-18 Killer Whales Coordinating Meeting Places and Times?

Sunday, April 15th
...the hydrophones had been down from 9pm April 12th until the morning of April 14th...could J Pod or others have come by during that time - we will likely never know...
...so at 1:00 a.m. (middle of the night) Transient calls woke me up...they lasted about ten minutes...so when I got an invitation to go out on the Western Prince today, I thought "why, yes!"...I didn't expect those Ts would be located because it was eleven hours later when we left the dock in Friday Harbor...
...but with no wind, not much sun, and no rain (which was on its way for Monday), it would be nice to get out on the water...
...there was a report of a possible baleen whale off the the southeast, so we headed that way...well, we ended up being in the right place at the right time...never did see a baleen whale, but one of the captains notified Capt. Michael that there was a large group of killer whales headed our way!
...need I say more?!
...what a day!  We had heard about the new baby of, mom, T65A...and here that little one was! 

...and new baby lumpiness too...

...there was another baby, born last November whom I hadn't seen-belongs to the T49As - well got to see that baby today too...

...was that enough?  I guess not because...well here is the bigger story:  It's about T65A3. ...each year the T65As have been seen, 3rd offspring, T65A3 has been with the family...but this year, the first time we saw any of the T65As, it was only T65A3 and he showed up with T49C, an adult male and brother of T49A...common for males to disburse when they reach a certain age...however, T65A3 is much younger than expected to have done that.
So what were T49C and T65A3, doing together?
...and...
Where were the rest of the T65As? 

A friend suggested that maybe mom was having a baby so he had disbursed.  She might not have realized at the time that she would end up being right! This was yesterday and T65A3 is right in there with all his mother and younger siblings. T65A2 was present too, just not in this surfacing sequence.

So somewhere between April 6th and April 15th T65A3 got to meet his new sibling! 
T49C is usually seen either alone or with one other and somewhere between the 6th and the 15th he went on his way - somewhere.

Today the four families T36As, T49As, T65As, and T123s were traveling pretty tight, so not everyone would surface at the same time.  

...more to come, but here are a couple more images from the great encounter we had today...Thanks for the invite and to Capt. Michael, Katie and Elah and all those passengers for wanting to take a trip on the Western Prince today - WOW!

Notation: T49A1 had disbursed from his family early in 2017(some time after April)...his mother had a baby in November of 2017...it will be interesting to learn if he stays with his family now...I think it is more common for 1st born males to stay with their mother and subsequent born males to disburse...but that's what we think, not necessarily what they do...
Whether Southern Residents or Transients, they have a complex social structure, much more than most might think.

What might have gone on here? communication, coordination, meeting times and locations...and who knows what else might have been involved in this event...at least that is what I think.  
The whales don't just wander around and bump into one another along the way...well, maybe some do, just like us when we 'run into someone' we haven't seen in a while...

...but this was an event..
...so glad to get a glimpse into their world today.

...another note about coordinating:  there was some KOMO 4 (I think) helicopter video taken of the T137s in Puget Sound on April 9th...though it was not always easy to tell if they were actually directional or not...they looked like they were just waiting around...
...and sooooo...when Orca Network posted some images, that were taken by someone on April 10th, of the T137s approaching the T65As and that new baby T65A6 was in the image.

Now I wonder even more about the 

whales coordinating with each other.

4-15-17 T65As, T65Bs, and T49As

Saturday, April 15th
...just before leaving Friday Harbor on the Western Prince, Capt. Michael gets word of whales not too far in the distance...
...he waited until we were just about on scene to let everyone know...you know because it's never a guarantee until you actually see them!
Here's who we saw today...

...image above whale on the left - T65A2 has an interesting story that occurred back in April of 2013...link here...see how much smaller he was then and what went on...it wasn't  monumental but it was something that we humans don't get to see very often or perhaps ever before that or after...
...continuing with who we saw today...

...those open mouths!

...will this beautiful spring weather be here tomorrow?