4-4-15 Orcas Had Lunch At the Park Two Days In A Row

Saturday, April 4th

...yesterday, Friday April 3rd, J pod came down from the north...
...funny story:  Two days before, on Wednesday, I had been invited to participate with a group on Friday at 11:30.  As soon as she told me the time, I declined and said "oh, the whales will be here then."  Of course I was joking!  But after having left a friend at a restaurant once before and another to get her own ferry out of here...well, I have known for a long time to not make any plans because that's when the whales will show up!
...Okay, on Friday they were two minutes late!  11:32 a.m. the burst into chatter over the Orca Sound hydrophones...and I laughed the rest of the day! 

...on Friday, J pod was spread for miles...even though I saw how far off shore they were from County Park, I still went to Lime Kiln...
...by now it was lunchtime...Princess Angeline J-17 and her boy Moby J-44 were the only two IDable whales...the seas were really nasty, I heard it was 3 to 4 footers out there...

...Princess Angeline J-17 and Moby J-44 had SALMON for lunch!

...then today, Saturday, April 4th...Transient killer whale calls woke me up at about 4:50 this morning...but it wasn't until about noon when things began to get interesting...I hear tjat whales are coming up the west side...so, out the door and to the park...
...there were five whales, coming up island...they stalled out just to the down island side of where I was...and they were about to have lunch!
wow- they were so close it was quite wild...Transients don't usually come in really close especially at the park and these are the closest I think I might have ever seen Transients at the park...and to top it off they take a harbor seal!

...and here's what they were about to have for lunch today...

...that harbor seal was about to contribute to the well being of those five whales...and possibly, on a very small scale, contribute to the well being of the Southern Residents by not being around to eat their salmon!
...I thought that was guts this youngster was carrying along, but on closer look it was just sea grass...yep, they will play with the left overs, sometimes that is...

...you can see they were actually coming in closer to shore...

...as they got to just about in front of the lighthouse...I had seen a harbor seal just before all this kerfuffle went on...

...one of the whales came zooming back...

...then a Steller sea lion lunges to get the heck out of there! But the whales didn't seem to be after the Steller...perhaps it was another harbor seal.

...it was momentary...the whales had just had a meal and whether they got a quick 'snack to go' or not I couldn't tell...
...I got to County Park just in time to see them coming up and going on by...much farther offshore and all grouped up...

...Lunch at the lighthouse, two days in a row...will there be a third...?

7-29-14 That Seal Got That Salmon

Tuesday, July 29th
...morning at the park waiting and looking for the whales to come up island...and instead of whales we were treated to these two harbor seals and their salmon...

 ...I couldn't figure out the second seal...it wasn't eating on the salmon, nor was it trying to take it away...I would guess a pup, but it looked too big to be a pup...I guess they were two very cooperative seals...

...close to noon the whales came up island, the first two whales I saw were Marina L-47 and her youngest, Mystic L-115...they appeared to be near the leaders...
...as we continued moving up island on Maya's Westside Charters others came into view...Slick J-16, Mike J-26, Alki J-36, Echo J-42, Shachi J-19, Eclipse J-41...Lobo K-26 (which meant that the rest of his family would be present)...Onyx L-87...the J14s...and Surprise! L-86 and Pooka L-106 too!
...Onyx L-87 was back with Group A, and it looked like Granny J-2 was way up in the lead... and now there were some L pod whales and some K pod whales 'hanging out with' Granny's Group...
...all these whales had just about made it out of view at Kellett Bluff, when a few turned around...
Mike, Marina, Mystic, and Muncher all started to come back down island...then they stopped and they appeared to be foraging...

...now if Mike came back down island with these L pod whales where would the rest of his family be?...

...we had to leave the scene, but came back out about a half hour later...and saw five whales heading down island...they were the five L pod whales who had come up...Muncher, Marina, Mystic, Surprise and Pooka...Mike J-26 was no where to be seen...since the seas were not looking nice down island, we turned back toward the north and eventually saw Mike and his family - the J16s, steadily moving north...but they were a few miles behind Granny's Group - Group A and the K14s...who we went on up to see...

...as Group A and the K14s got farther up Swanson Channel, the whales momentarily grouped up just as a sea plane landed...it reminded me of when this occurred before in this same location - see that post - this time however, they didn't linger like they did the previous time...I wonder what sound they are hearing from a sea plane landing (or taking off), and if it would cause them to pause...maybe, maybe not...sea planes are very loud above the surface...but what about under the surface?...it would have to happen many times to be sure that it wasn't just circumstantial... ...they were moving at a steady pace and after a while they entered Active Pass...and so did we!...it can be a spectacular place to go through, even when there are no whales...but add whales and the ferries...oh, my!!

...there are people on that rock just about every time the whales go through Active Pass...

...on the way back toward the harbor we searched for the J16s, but couldn't find them...then I learn that the J16s (Mike and family) had gone up Boundary Pass (north east) and hadn't followed behind Granny and the rest of them up Swanson Channel (north west)...but they would meet up sometime during the night, most likely...


...and those L pod whales who went back down island?...well, they passed by at the park, heading back down island to where the rest of the L pod whales were (not the L12s - they were not in here), and to where J pod Group B and the rest of K pod was - oh, about 50 whales...

...the salmon is sparse...the whales are using all their tactics for flushing out the salmon and they are masters of that...now if enough salmon will just continue to slowly move in that would be great...or for that matter 22,000,000 salmon would be even better...but that official prediction is just about to be squelched...unfortunately...

7-19-14 They Were Spread Across the Strait

Saturday, July 19th
...with all three pods miles to the north and the Strait of Georgia with big, big seas...it was time for plan B...that would be Transients...and wasn't that nice that a group of 11 Ts showed up!
...on Maya's Westside Charters we met the Ts in Rosario Strait...and as luck would have it the whales traveled to the north and west heading in the best direction for us, since we had come a long way...

...the Transients (aka Bigg's killer whales) were the T124As, minus T124A1 who is not always seen with the family, the T137s, and T77A who is a sprouter male and who has dispersed (as the researchers call it) from his family...this is common with the whales in this transient community...
...T124A2 and T124A4 giving these folks an exciting moment...

...on the way back to the harbor we had a few interesting encounters with some harbor seals...

...later in the day the Residents were coming down Boundary Pass so we thought we would go see them...Capt. Jim. first spotted some whales porpoising toward us...

...and zoom on by they did...Nugget L-55, Takoda L-109, Scoter K-25, Skagit K-13 and several others going too fast to capture but a few images...

...Cappuccino K-21, Opus K-16, and Sonata K-35 (aka the K Klik) were out in the middle of Haro Strait...

...though there were over 60 whales coming down Haro Strait, they were spread for miles across the strait... 
...after getting back I headed for the park, making it in time to see the whales go by...

...and some remained...

8-5-13 Harbor Seal Moments

Monday, August 5th

...watching harbor seals can sometimes be quite interesting...

...sometimes from shore...

...sometimes out on the boat...

...I'm not sure what her 'scratching' was about...'time to eat,' 'a harbor seal hug,' 'pay attention" ???

7-14-13 Is It Looking Us In the Eye Again?

Friday and into Sunday, July 12-14th
...J, K, Onyx L-87, and the L22s were in the area on Friday...that evening they came up to the lighthouse and turned back again...
...by Saturday they were seen heading west in the Strait of Juan de Fuca...where L pod was coming in...however, they spent a good portion of the day out there not picking a direction (from what I was told - I wasn't out there)...last seen heading west...bye, bye whales again!  
...guess who stayed?  Yep, the L22s...I guess there is enough salmon to sustain three whales.  Now that's a pretty sad situation for this entire ecosystem...scary stuff going on right now...

...and what were Spirit, Skana and Solstice doing on Saturday?...

...as I sit here, Sunday afternoon writing this, that's what the L22s are probably doing again today...
from July 1-14
...the L22s have been here 13 of 14 days in July...
...the rest of the whales have been here 6 days or less...

...I am curious about harbor seal pups - usually there is a population 'explosion' as I call it...the harbor seal pups being born all within about 2 weeks...but this year, we are seeing only a few, and I'm hearing from others that there just aren't that many pups...

-Are they going to be late?  
-Are there just not going to be many pups this season? 
-Is nature taking care of bringing back a balance to the numbers?

If so is that what nature is doing regarding the whales, bringing back a balance? That seems to be the opposite.  A few years ago the question was: would the whales eat other fish or start eating marine mammals?...or...would they just starve?...or...would they go somewhere else?

Are the answers to those questions

 looking us in the eye? 

Maybe so.

Scary stuff.

7-9-13 Patos Island Clockwise and Counter Clockwise

Tuesday, July 9th
...a funny sounding squiggle on the Lime Kiln hydrophones got me running out the door this morning, to the park...running down the hill I could hear blows...

...I missed some, but would hopefully see them later on Maya's Westside Charters, on our morning trip...waiting on the folks to arrive, I stood at the end of the dock at Snug Harbor with my binoculars and could see whales doing what looked to be foraging...that would be a good thing...
some of the highlights of the day with L pod whales...
...the L12s didn't make it very far past Lime Kiln lighthouse before turning back down island...Mystery L-85 - a member of the L12 subgroup...

...Calypso L-94 and Cousteau L-113 going back down island with the rest of the L12s...

...the group of 19 L pod whales continued moving north - mostly moms and kids with Crewser L-92 currently the largest male in that group...Kasatka L-82 stopped to do some foraging...(Lulu L-53, is the 20th whale of the group just mentioned, she was traveling with J pod...something she and her mom, Canuck L-7 used to do when her mother was alive...)

...others were moving in toward shore at the south end of the park...

...a harbor seal was watching all the action on shore...

...during the afternoon in Boundary Pass and Mt. Baker looking magnificent...

...a deep sea ship came by...some of the whales were tail lobbing and speed swimming in the wake of the freighter...

...they continued up Boundary Pass...
 ...when we came back out later...the L12s were still down island...Js and Ks were in Rosario Strait...and the group we had seen earlier, had turned and were heading south east...
...what they did next was very interesting...they were on the north west side of Patos Island, approaching the island, looking like they would travel east on the north side...
...there was a kerfuffle for a moment and three whales hung back from the rest of the group while others moved on ahead...
...those others traveled clockwise around Patos Island... Nugget L-55, Takoda L-109, and Jade L-118 traveled counter clockwise!
...here is some of the larger group as they came around the south east side of Patos heading west...

...they traveled west along the south side of Patos...we saw Nugget and her two kids about half way approaching the larger group...their slow travel changed into some action...Crewser L-92 was...

...some whales moved on ahead, so there were now two groups and some spyhops and tail lobs, etc...

...Takoda L-109 with a great spyhop to end an amazing trip around Patos Island!

...it is not uncommon to see Transient killer whales go around Patos Island, but it's NOT common to see Residents do that...

...it's the food issue...I think this is one more event to add to the unusual travelings the whales are doing this year...

6-21-13 The Last Few Days- Ts, Residents and a Humpback

the last few days...
Wednesday, June 19th...no whales but some nice harbor seals...we're looking for the pups to be born...once we see one there is usually a 'pupulation' explosion within the next couple of weeks....it's amazing how it all happens so quickly...no the stars don't all line up or maybe they do, because it's during summer solstice time - all the elements are right (they hope) - warmer temperatures, supposed to be plenty of food, etc.

Thursday, June 20th
...neither wind nor rain nor nasty seas will keep people away...and luckily the transient whales who were seen today accommodated everyone by spending their time where the seas were relatively calm...nice of them...
...I however was out on Maya's Westside Charters in the morning and my camera had a difficult time focusing through the raindrops!...
...one whale as he made a big leap...

Friday, June 21st
...transients spotted coming east in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, so off we go on Maya's Westside Charters...we're almost to Victoria when we learn of whales off the west side of San Juan Island...back we go!...we hear over the radio that it's Transients...as we arrived on scene there were only two and not 5 or 6 as we had heard...then we learn there are more up island...
...the male kept surfacing in the distance with the trailing edge facing us, making it near impossible to see who he was...and then he surfaced, profile like, and I said to myself, "that looks like Mega" - but he's not a Transient...it was Mega!

...so the L12s had returned, taking up their 'spot' on the westside...at least for the day anyway...
...we got surprised by both moms and calves...seems they were interested in watching us!

...as Matia L-77 dove there was this unusual 'whirlpool' of water...

...Solstice L-89 spent a lot of time in some rough water...a salmon place perhaps...

...one of the passengers spotted a humpback!  wow!...lucky to get a fluke shot from a good distance...

...and the most fun, even if it did last just a couple seconds...Calypso L-94 and her offspring, Cousteau L-113 - All together now!...

...nice to see the L12s in here again...perhaps there is enough salmon to feed this small group for a while...

5-25-13 More Transients and a Different Humpback Today!

Saturday, May 25th
...I saw these whales May 12, 2012 and May 11, 2011...and since they showed up today - May 25, 2013, maybe they are giving us a clue as to how much the calendar is off this year...by maybe two weeks???

...we went out west of Victoria to meet incoming whales - 4 Transients - this afternoon, on Maya's Westside Charters...it took until I got home to be able to figure out just who it was...
...a sprouter (male), a female, and two juveniles...
...a few moments after we arrived on scene they went after a Harbor seal...that Harbor seal sure hung in there a long time before he became an afternoon meal...

...the Harbor seal was about to charge the whale...

...T77B lunging after it...

...one of the kids, either T77C or T77D, and the Harbor seal...

...I thought that maybe they had made the kill, but in a few moments the Harbor seal surfaced again...

...more lunging and a few minutes later the whales began to move off, then T77 surfaced swimming backwards...I'm not very good at stringing images into a clip, but this will show you T77 surfacing tail first, and using her tail to move herself backwards...then T77B surfaces coming towards her...

...she had the meal...and pretty soon some gulls came swooping down...yep, lunch had been served...
~~
...while we were out there with the killer whales, we learned of a humpback whale coming north in San Juan Channel, passing Friday Harbor...on our next trip we were able to catch up the the humpback up by Sucia Island...

 ...we heard the humpback had been breaching and breaching and just wouldn't quit...we missed that, but she was showing the underside of her tail when she sounded (taking a deep dive)...giving us clear ID shots...BCY0409 I believe is her ID...
...a glimpse of what we missed- this image is from last summer - July 2012 - when she was doing a lot of breaching while moving north up the west side of San Juan Island!

...another interesting note about her, is that last year I was told that she had been seen in Hawaii in January 2012...