5-19-16 They Stayed Day After Day

Thursday, May 19th
...well they stayed around...with others too...
...on the evening of May 17th some people on the ferry, just about to arrive in Friday Harbor, were greeted with a group of killer whales chasing after Dall's porpoise...I learned about it and how extraordinary it was when I received a frantic phone call!!  :)
...on the 18th those whales, the T75Bs and the T77s were still around, though over on the Canadian side, in among some of the gulf islands...not sure where they were, or if, seen on the 19th...
...now for the 19th, late afternoon trip on Peregrine with Capt. Jim at the helm...the T36As, T65As and Bs, the T99s were together again...T93 and T97 were off in the distance...off to the west were T11 and T11A...and a few miles north of all of them were the T123s - WHEW!

...it appears they had made a kill a short while before...

...the lighting at this time of day was pretty nice...

...I've seen them ragged and smallish nicks but this is quite large...

...Patos Island...

...Pt. Roberts area in the distance...

...day after day of these transients continues as the norm...for now anyway...

 

5-12-15 Welcome to Friday Harbor- We Love It!

Tuesday, May 12th
...J Pod has been gone a while but Transients keep showing up...

...word was that T93 and T97 were in the  area...but they were just about as far away from the Snug Harbor side of the island as you can get...
...out with Capt. David on Peregrine for a 4:30 trip...it was so late in the day...but like I keep saying, 'everything always works out'...

...by the time we left the dock T93 and T97 were heading 'in the right direction,' and by the time we got there they had turned up San Juan Channel...

...they made a quiet kill and kept on going...

...several minutes later we saw a harbor seal who was in the wrong place...

...the surface action was short but with some of the most powerful movements I've ever seen...

...looks more like a humpback than a killer whale's tail flukes and lots of bubbles too...very strange!...the harbor seal is on the lower right...

...at least I got some of the whale's tail in the image...the sound made when his tail came down was startling to everyone on the boat...

...these two adult males continued on up San Juan Channel...there's Turn Island in the background...I had met a nice family of four on the west side in the morning...they had ridden their bikes with their two kids in a neat seat on the back of one of them...they asked if whales were seen often, etc...they told me they were staying on Turn Island...in turn I told them to keep a watch out because whales will come through San Juan Channel...
...The island on the right is Turn Island. I hope they were watching!...

...since I rarely go off island it's a treat to see Friday Harbor from the water...and even more of a treat to see whales in the foreground!( image at the top of this post)...and then they changed direction for a few minutes...

...and then continued up island again...we left them behind as we went up island and around the top and back to Snug Harbor...we had circumnavigated San Juan Island!

5-27-14 Hey - That's What the Residents Do!

Tuesday, May 27th
...Transients passing the lighthouse - again!  This is getting to be a common occurrence...

...on up island not far from shore...

...the lighting was spectacular and the seas flat...

...and the babies...they are always so 'cute'!  (T49A4 and T65A5)

...Hi Phyllis and David!!

...passing the Center for Whale Research...

...and into Open Bay...

...watch them as they are stopped ...it is not seen that often...sorry it's so shaky and it's difficult to see their fin tips at first...

...out of Open Bay and on up along the shore of Henry Island - "Hey, wait a minute, this is what the Rezzies do!"

...before heading back to the harbor on Maya's Westside Charters to pick up another group of whale watching seekers, we made a quick detour to show the folks on board the two adult males T93 and T97, who have become quite the regulars this last month...as you can see they were way off shore and not traveling near the other group...

  ...when the T49As and the T65As got to Turn Pt. they turned right and from then on they went back and forth...

...Moresby Island in the distance...

...they didn't eat anything all day long, but I learned that they made a kill a while later...Dave from the Center for Whale Research was on scene...he got some fun pics of them...check out their site as they are listing their encounters section available for viewing...

5/12-14/14 A Little of This and a Lot of TRASH

Monday-Wednesday, May 12-14th
...very little, that we humans are aware of, going on in the killer whale world in this area...
...after seeing a couple minke whales off the west side they and others have been seen way south, almost to Puget Sound...thanks Capt. Jim - it was a long trip down there and luckily it was flat calm...

...many Steller sea lions at Whale Rocks and some young juveniles too...

...there was a report of a Steller sea lion hauled out on the Salmon Bank buoy with a 'strap' around it's neck...we didn't see it but it happened to be a day we were picking up a lot of OCEAN TRASH...here's a sampling...

...we did see a couple branded Steller sea lions...
...can't quite make out the number on this guy...

...183R - well he's around here a lot in the winter...one day this week he was at Green Pt., off the north end of San Juan Island...and the next - here he is at Whale Rocks off the south end!

...finding that Steller with the strap around it's neck will be by chance...since they move about so much...and they usually leave the area by the end of this month and head back to their breeding colony...maybe someone will see it again...unfortunately there isn't much that can be done - except for the humans to stop letting trash get into the ocean...
...I played with this image for the effect...just liked the way the harbor seals were lying about...

...then yesterday, while out, we got word a couple killer whales had been sighted...off we went to join in on the search...
...T93 and T97 and they looked like they were on their way to the lighthouse!

...they zigged and zagged and didn't ever get that far across Haro Strait...

...a few fun pics too...Dave Ellifrit on the Center for Whale Research boat and Simon on his Ocean Ecoventures boat...

...while on the way back we picked up more trash...another float - there are so many floats out there - adrift - I think someone could open up a store and sell them...we put one of the passengers to work...

...this piece was so large it took dad and son to get it in the boat...good job fellas!

...this stuff comes in all sizes and this piece was disintegrating rapidly...

...as long as we are in US waters we can pick up trash, once in Canadian waters we cannot pick up anything from the surface...same goes for the Canadians in US waters...
...we continued on our way...spotting an elephant seal!

...a bald eagle coming in for a landing...

...and as we were looking at the wildlife on Low Island, just off County Park, one of the passengers noticed a harbor seal that looked like it had something around its neck...

...that looks like a plastic tie...though you can't see it in these two images the same 'skinning' looked to be occurring on the other side of the seal...I reported it to The Whale Museum's Hot Line for sightings and strandings...it's not a stranding but I wanted this documented...
...I can only imagine what happens to thousands of animals in the ocean who suffer and die from these types of situations...

...no word from J, K or L pods...I believe they will be here - when the salmon arrive too...when that will be is the question...