5-10-23 Humpback-Transients-Eagle

Thanks to the 'heads-up' of others, it was quite a day!

Transient orcas were coming south in San Juan Channel. There are many places they can change their direction of travel. Luckily they continued down the Channel. A few images from the 900 I took. There were 19 Transient orcas, from very young to seniors. Here are a couple highlights from the passby.

below - that white is the underside of someone's right tail fluke.

As fun a day as it was...something was missing.

Though it's interesting to see so many Transients this spring, it is concerning to me that the Southern Resident orcas are not seen much.  The SRKWs should be here at this time of year, feasting on salmon that are (sould be) returning to the Fraser River, Canada. But the absence of J,K and L pods tells us a lot.

I'd rather they go where they can find enough salmon. We've seen in years past how they have come into these waters and travel, travel, travel without spending much time in any one place and then go back out to sea - an indicator of where the salmon are or are not.

So just maybe the Transients will help reduce the seal and sea lion population and they might be doing 'their part' to help restore salmon. Round about way, but every living salmon that survives is of upmost importance not only for the SRKWs, but for the other 136 species that rely on salmon.  Look it up 137 Species that Rely on Salmon.

 

05-31-19 A New J Pod Baby !

Friday, May 31st

...what a day...it began with three family groups, the T65Bs, T75Bs, and T75Cs several miles from shore off Lime Kiln.  They were going down island and they were so far out that I could barely even seen the boats that were there...
...but it was not windy, and the air wasn't cold, so I decided to just watch...not thinking anything other than knowing there were whales out there near those boats...but oh, well...
...then the boats slowed to almost a stop...hmmm...then a boat turned...hmmm, interesting...then another boat turned and another...very slowly...the whales were going back up...
...then a boat turned in the direction of the lighthouse...still couldn't see a whale out there, but this was getting really interesting...
...then another boat..and now the boats were actually coming directly toward the lighthouse...
...a fella visiting with his family was telling me that his son's school class had built rain gardens that act as a natural filter to clean the water that runs off driveways, roads, roofs, etc....he asked what I was seeing, at this point the boats were at their furthest...his comment, "If I could see them today that would be just fabulous!"  Well, the whales must have gotten his 'desire' because they came all the way across and were close to shore, right in front of the lighthouse.  WOW !

 ...the whales, three moms, two juveniles, and three under the age of two, were very surface active...having a great time...

...in between the above images and the below image there was a boat incident, with a sail boat, motoring, no sail up, appearing to not have a clue as to the presence of whales right in front of him...(incident reported)
...here are four of the eight whales, right after the event...I followed them up island and was able to verify that all were present as they passed by County Park...whew...

...while this was going on today, here...along the outer coast, off Tofino, J Pod was encountered and they have increased in size by one! 
There are images on the news, on social media, and all of us in this area and everyone who isn't, hopes J Pod will eventually, when there is enough salmon, make their way here, with the newest member of their pod !
It's been a long time since J Pod had a calf...
The mother is not yet confirmed...but the only images I saw - the calf was next to Tushci (J-31), and with them were Star (J-46) and Suttles (J-40).

...and that's a very interesting group...
...Star and Suttles were both escorts with Tahlequah (J-35) in the early part of her long mourning period in 2018, when Tahlequah would not let her deceased baby go.  
...Star helped as best as she could when her mother, Polaris (J-28) was declining and her baby brother was too, in 2016.  
...Suttles acted like a playground monitor, traveling behind Scarlet (J-50), as if to make sure she kept up...J-50 was just 3 months old and her mother, Slick (J-16), was helping her daughter, Alki (J-36), with her brand new baby, in early 2015.  ...see Blog Post from 3-30-15

...There are more accounts of others...Tsuchi (J-31) has been like an auntie whale...she seemed to be in attendance with Polaris and Star, after Polaris lost her second calf in January 2013. 

No matter who mom is...I just hope we all will get the opportunity to meet this new member to J Pod, watch him/her have a long life.

~~~

...on May 29, two humpback whales came up island, then down island and then up island again...and sometime during the night they came back down island and were seen heading west in the Strait of Juan de Fuca...
...this one actually has three IDs - MMX0005 (temporary ID by Mark Malleson, when first seen in these waters), BCY0660, and BCY0458...
..not easy to see but the dots and line on the left fluke match up and on both flukes the raggedy edges match up...what was confusing was the right fluke...

...this is BCY0160...that's an easy one, due to the 'H' mark on the left fluke...

...I wonder what this next week will bring?....

...in the meantime maybe it will bring for you:
 - a reduction in your use of anything plastic
 - being stingy with your water usage
 - reading labels to find how close to your area your food comes from

...that's just for starters...I think we all might agree that each of us must, without delay, make changes for the sake of saving the earth and all that live on the earth...
 - have you read about setting up a water dish for bees? - they need water too
 - do you bring your cloth bags to the grocery when you shop?

just a few ideas...think of what you can do and then start doing it.
Change isn't easy, but if we don't change we will not make the world a better place.
 
 

 

1-28-17 Sounds From J Pod

Friday into Saturday, January 27, 28th

...it had been quiet in these waters since the last sighting of the J16s on January 9th...they had, however, been seen in the Strait of Juan de Fuca...
...late afternoon, and totally by chance, I saw a blow just south of Andrews Bay (County Park)...it was quite far but when I got my binoculars on it - it was a humpback!

...out on Peregrine with Capt. Jim and Jeff...it was a pretty day, the most calm water and sunny skies...no whales but nice to be out there...

 ...

 

9-25-16 Humpback and Orcas On the Hydrophones at the Same Time

Sunday, September 25th
...they woke me up in the middle of the night - 2:37 a.m. very faint calls but they were there...the whales had been gone for for two days and they were back!...
...while listening, a humpback came into the 'picture'...

...the it sounded like the humpback was closer to the hydrophones most of the time and the Residents were much farther out...

...most of the orcas were way north by daylight...no telling where the humpback was...
...some others had stayed south and later in the day spent three hours off the lighthouse giving us humans an interesting look at 'part of the day in the life of an orca'...but that will be in the next post.

5/04-07/16 Humpbacks Are Returning

Wednesday through Saturday, May 4-7
Here is what the letters mean:
BC = British Columbia
MM = Mark Malleson - temporary ID assigned because there were many new humpbacks coming in to these waters and they needed some way to identify who it was.
The X = mostly black on the underside of the flukes.
The Y = some white.
The Z = majority of white.
And each is assigned a number.
-BCY0160 and MMY0006
...though I was not on scene that day, here is what they look like...

...MMY0006 doesn't have the distinguishing mark that BCY0160 has...I usually look for the long skinny white line on the left fluke for starters and then you have to match up other pieces.  There is an official humpback ID book...

...one afternoon BCY0324 (Big Mama) and her calf, who has the designation, so far, as Calf of BCY0324...

...this is mom...

...and another day two different humpbacks from the previous few days...
...today BCX1069 nicknamed Split Fluke...

...and...no ID in the book for this one...

...I think that so far there have been seven who have returned to these waters so far this spring...

 

4-30-16 Breaching Baby Humpback

Saturday, April 30th
...the last several days in April...
...the T65As and T65Bs (2 sisters and their offspring) were in Rosario Strait almost to the Annacortes Ferry Terminal on the 27th...

...the next day not seen and the next day, April 29th seen north near Sucia Island...and on the 30th they were on the west side of San Juan Island heading away...they do get around...that is just what the T65As (the T65Bs are not always with them) do at this time of year!

...on April 28th, the third day after J Pod had gone north they came back down...but they came down traveling through some very unusual places for them...Samsun Narrows then past the Swartz Bay Ferry Terminal...and down through a very narrow pass (wish I could have seen that!), and on down the west side of Haro Strait...it was thought that all of J Pod was there...but they weren't!  
...someone 'picked up' the J16s as they were at the top end of Boundary Pass...and since the water was getting really nasty in Haro Strait...on Peregrine with Andy at the helm we headed to calmer water and the J16s...we met them just north of Java Rocks...Mike J-26 was by himself...and mom and the rest of the family in shore...

...we left them south of Blunden Island close to shore on the west side of Boundary Pass...we learned later that David and Barbara of All Aboard Sailing met them and last saw them on the east side of Boundary Pass near Ripple Island...
...so when on April 30th we hear of Residents way north off Texada Island...were those the J16s? (or could it have been some Northern Residents that far down?)
...because if not then it would be some Ks or Ls - Whoo-Hoo!  ...after all it is just about May and soon L Pod usually shows up in May...hoping! 

...also on April 28th another humpback returned to these waters, the first sighting of her this year...Big Mama - BCY0324...and she brought her new calf with her...Mark Malleson, who has tracked these humpbacks, said this is her 6th calf...
...so far she and the calf have been along the west side of San Juan Island for the last three days...
...day one with mom and new calf on Imagine with Spencer...Jeff and Debbie from Oregon were on the boat and since we stayed with the two humpbacks until another boat arrived, I told them they were now official humpback babysitters!

...day two...I watched from shore...

...day three - from the Peregrine - doing what baby humpbacks do!...and Jeff and Debbie came out on this trip too and boy did they get to really see that baby :)

...it may have been slow to begin and now all of a sudden...just like Big Mama and her calf and their energetic actions...spring has arrived !

Now we need to see salmon coming in here.  One thing I have noticed over the last three days is more birds congregating and loud = food is in here...according to the areas I have seen...not enough yet ...hope it's a start...
 

 

11-21-15 Humpbacks Again

Saturday, November 21st
...out on Peregrine to go see...how many humpbacks?...it started out earlier in the day that there were several somewhere, possibly up to nine...
...not sure where they all went, but watching these two humpbacks might show just why it was such a challenge to find any of them this afternoon...

...it's two who have been up and down Haro Strait for at least the last week...BCY1057 and MMY0009 and have come here for multiple years...

11-18-15 How About Eight Humpbacks!

Wednesday, November 18th
...day after the storms and calm water once again...out on Peregrine to see what we could see...Capt. Jim at the helm we head down the west side...and surprisingly we come upon...

...highly unusual...but this year there have been more sightings of California sea lions and a few times finding them hauled out in unusual places...

...changing directions we head up island...over the next one and a half hours we encounter 4 pairs...all within a few miles...and one single humpback off in the distance...

...the third pair we saw...

...here are these same two who were together on a sunny day - 11-15...

...the fourth pair...they only showed us their dorsal fins which isn't often much help...

...no image of the single humpback...

...that was definitely a bonanza of a humpback day!
...orcas?...well...no telling where the Residents will show up next...