Thursday, June 12th
...the title of this post may sound a bit strange...however, when you get to see J pod whales looking like they are finding more salmon in these waters, their chatter increased, their actions explosive, very playful...etc...well maybe just for today anyway it was a good day for them...
...the day began not knowing where the J pod whales were...last we heard Oreo J-22 and her group were up in the Strait of Georgia...the other J pod whales who have been in here were heading that way...but by the end of the day they had not met up...
...today...no word of J pod whales and word of some Transient whales, on Maya's Westside Charters we headed over toward the Canadian side of Haro Strait...the T137s and the T86As...the other day we got to watch them in a resting pattern...today they were not resting, just moving along...while watching them someone had located the J pod whales, so off we headed back over toward San Juan Island as they were coming up from the bottom...
...the seas were pretty choppy and viewing had its challenges, but it was awesome to watch them as they would get into some fish...it was almost as if one was calling to others, "over here!" because we'd see several dorsal fins turn and head toward one whale and then lots of lunging and zooming at the surface...
...I managed to get one image of a fish tail...
...and I managed to get one very strange looking image...
...it looked like there was something there - what I don't know - but in the end it was the lighting and the water, etc....weird...
...they were coming up island...some were heading in toward the lighthouse and others were far behind...
...when we came out of the harbor for a late afternoon trip whales were right there...we didn't even go a 1/2 mile!
...some of the others had caught up...DoubleStuf J-34 was here...that meant that the rest of his family would be here too...and soon we saw them...(they weren't with the other J pod whales yesterday)
...they spread out and chased fish again...and when they continued on they got very playful...Rhapsody J-32 was once again breaching - so glad to see her doing this again!
...they were definitely in the kelp beds as they traveled...Rhapsody carried this piece of kelp for several minutes!
...okay, so he is far away...but still very cute!
...Rhapsody J-32 was a bit closer and of course larger...it was so good to see her breaching - and a lot - today!
...Onyx was off by himself at times...
...he seemed to be having a great time!
...
...
...the whales continued to move north...the most energetic I have seen them this year...it seemed they had a good salmon day...at least for today...
Tuesday, June 10th
...from flat calm seas one day to wild seas the next- yikes!...big swells - not common for us in here combined with windy conditions too...oh, well, the whales don't care and watch them we did...
...as the J pod whales approached the lighthouse...Mike J-26 surfaced at just the right time - for my camera anyway...
...the whales moved in closer to shore as they passed by the lighthouse - no doubt thrilling the 70+ school kids who were sitting on the rocks watching!
...somewhere around County Park and just beyond they began porpoising...the two people sitting outside their house were watching too...
...then as they were heading up along Henry Island...way in the distance...for all the bouncing around I was lucky to get a clear image...
...we headed back to the harbor, which was just around the corner...only to come back out...we heard of a group of transients up in Boundary Pass, where the water was calm - 'Let's go there!'
...we heard that it was the T137s...it was!
...and the T86As too...see those two little guys each with a notch?...T86A3 is on the left and T137D is the little one on the right...the tall fin belongs to T137D's big brother T137A - and he has two distinct notches...
...a nice group of resting whales, blue sky and calm water...
...they were near Patos Island going no where...
...I love watching whales 'doing nothing'...
...then we learned that the T65As - currently our 'in the neighborhood' Ts day after day, it seems, were on a course heading toward the J pod whales who were coming up toward Turn Pt....off we went...the T65As turned and went down past Turn Pt...we had a brief encounter with them before heading back to the harbor...
...the J pod whales had turned and gone up Swanson Channel...bye-bye to them until tomorrow...that is except for 'the Cookies' - Oreo J-22 and her group who stayed behind along the west side of the island...
...and it's been busy waters with many Ts around...
...the J17s are still not here...we know they left with the L12s...very interesting...
...and one of these days they will return...
...and hopefully one of these days the rest of L pod and all of K pod will return...
...and they will...when there is enough salmon for everyone!
Wednesday, April 23rd
...word of transients coming down!...out on Maya's Westside Charters we meet up with some of the whales as they head over toward Sidney, BC...
...we pass by T65B and her little one, who has grown a lot...and off in the distance see T63 - Chainsaw and T65, his constant companion...
...there were some others with them...when they surfaced again they had split...
...we stayed with the group that had the kids...
...
...they took the channel
west of James Island and we had taken the Sidney Channel!...they had made a
kill...we arrived just in time for their celebration!
...baby-T124A5 and ?...
...'heads up'!
...they continued down the Channel, still had some of the meat with them...
...we last saw them with people along the shore with the dogs playing...and several of the young kids who must have been playing with seal parts...staying in one spot, fins going in all directions, etc!
...it was a wild ride back to the harbor and we all made it safe, sound and dry!
Monday, March 31st
...we went for it...on Maya's Westside Charters...to a large group of Trainsients (Bigg's) killer whales...up to the north...it was chancy...however...
Simon of Ocean Ecoventures had stayed with them and then had to leave (oh, he'd be back), so it might be up to us...
...we headed up to Trincomali Channel...Capt. David spotted the whales at the top end of Thetis Island...and there they stayed for the next very long while...
...it is best seen on the YouTube video clip...the clip is from the first part of their encounter...it looked like it was a training session for the kids which would end up with a reward...
...then they ate and played...
...T86A and T124, both matriarchs of their families were moving about together...
...T87 would surfaced all around, from being on the outskirts to passing through the middle of some of the groups...
...he has no immediate
living family members so he will show up traveling with different
groups...we did see him earlier in the month with a new wound... link to that post...a better image of his wound...
...notches from this wound appear visible from his other side...
...there was another 'new to me' baby!...based on its size I imagine this calf is maybe 6 months old and may have been seen sometime during the late fall or winter months...and a juvenile who I didn't think belonged to any of these family groups, but he/she does...mystery solved...will post about those kids in my next post...
...the gulls began to get active and all of a sudden they were around our boat, the whales weren't - just the birds...as if we were a fishing boat...then we saw them picking up bits and pieces off the surface...
...the whales were getting into travel mode and began moving off to the north...and with one last image of a most beautiful day with magnificent whales...those are snow covered Canadian mountains in the distance!
Thank you whales!
