6-5-14 Two Reasons for Whale Pics Today

Thursday, June 5th
...as it turned out being a shore day for me was perfect for a couple reasons...
...when I looked out the window and saw two whale watching boats heading slowly down island - yikes! what was I missing!
...I made it to the park and to the rock with about 2 minutes to spare...today I was hoping to see all the whales from yesterday, and Granny J-2, Onyx L-87, and Rhapsody J-32...
 ...it was shortly after 10a.m. when they came charging down down past the lighthouse...

...thanks Granny!...I knew you were there somewhere yesterday...glad to confirm you for today!
...Alki was farther off shore, as were some others...

...Onyx was even farther...at least he was here!

...I think I got a glimpse of Rhapsody J-32, but not enough to be positive...
...in the afternoon the whales began coming up island...

...some kayakers were hoping for a whale encounter...Success!
...little did I know at the time that the next day I would meet two of the people who were in this group of kayakers...yep...I sent them the picture!
Reason #1

...not all that many whales had come north but some had passed by the lighthouse...a few others had come up, foraged for a few minutes before turning back down island...
...the last to come back down was a group of four who were traveling together...at the time I didn't know there would be some significance to who these four whales are...

...three females, one male...cool, nice pics...blah, blah, blah...
...then on the way home I heard someone talking to Tucker the whale poo sniffing dog boat and they said they had gotten a sample but didn't know who the whales were - Bingo!...Reason #2
...now they do...hope it helps them in gaining some information...interesting enough too is that 2 of those whales had come in on May 31st and the other two came in the night of June 2nd...I am so curious as to what they were eating out on the outer coast...salmon of course, but maybe more...and it may have been too many days for that info though...


...so all who were here from yesterday and today were now down island...and it was late in the day...would they come back up tonight or would they leave...
...I noticed that over the last couple up island 'trips' they would not go as far up as the previous time...makes me think they run out of salmon so the come back down...
 

6-10-13 What Is the Body Temperature of a Killer Whale?

Monday, June 10th
...a few days ago, when returning to the harbor after watching the whales, Capt. Spencer (owner of Legacy Charters) driving the Peregrine for Capt. Jim of Maya's Westside Charters...spotted an overturned kayak!
...yikes!...two men in the water, one guide in her kayak and one other kayak with two people in it...
...Capt. Spencer leaped into action - everyone cleared the deck, he got the boat into position, communicated all along with the kayak guide, the emergency frequency, and the passengers on our boat...Spencer had our two male passengers position themselves to lift the two men out of the water as they appeared to be beyond ability to get out on their own... 
...a link to the story posted on San Juan Islander

...water temperature at this time of year is approximately 49 degrees...

...I looked up cold water survival and here's one site that had some interesting information that I would not have expected to find...
...the other passengers got the men out of their life jackets, etc., got them wrapped up in blankets and 'hugged' them the whole way back to the harbor...
...the paramedics met us at the dock, did their thing and eventually the two rescued men were able to walk off the boat...they said next time they'd go on a boat to see whales - their spirits and humor were back :)

Heat loss in water is 27 to 32 times faster than in air (number varies according to source)

...the next day a friend asked me, "what is the body temperature of a killer whale."...good question...
...after doing some searching on-line, the most information I could find came from Killer Whales: Adaptations for an Aquatic Environment by SeaWorld. ...scroll down to the section listed as Thermoregulation...
-a few of many interesting facts:
...the body temperature of a killer whale is very close to that of a human...I wouldn't have thought that.
...compare the bullet like shape of a killer whale to the shape of a human, it's the extremities...you know how your hands and feet can get cold when the rest of you isn't?...well, killer whales don't have that issue...
...there are many other factors as well - their thick blubber layer, intervals of their breathing and more...very interesting...you can read more on the link above and possibly by doing an on-line search...

6-2-13 The Sunshine Stayed and So Did the Whales

Sunday, June 2nd
...off to the park as the whales came down island early this morning...after some passed by at the lighthouse there was a lull...the hydrophones were silent...was everyone else miles from shore?...and then someone breached!...thank you very much Rhapsody J-32!...and more came along behind her...

...a few hours later, out on Maya's Westside Charters as we reached the whales they were beginning to head back up island...they sure haven't been staying down island for any length of time...they were spread in groups and for a while taking their time...over the last several days there has been lots of activity in the kelp beds...salmon hiding places I presume...

...as they were about a mile from the lighthouse some began to porpoise...

...some of the J17s were putting on the speed!

...Polaris J-28 above and her offspring Star J-46 below...

...by the afternoon the whales had made it up to Open Bay, just outside of Snug Harbor...makes it really neat when we come off the dock and just outside the harbor are the whales...
...a group of playful kids...Teeth showing!...maybe they were sharing a salmon...we hope...

...the whales began to move on and these kayakers, who were doing just what they were supposed to do, got quite a treat!

...they continued on up island while those kayakers were exclaiming about what they just saw!...yes, she looks much closer than she really is to them, but that's probably close enough...

...the whales continued to be spread out...Skana L-79 was up ahead of his mom...I had to show you the beautiful day it was...

...no telling where the rest of the L12s were...up ahead I think...the L12s kids were mixed in with J pod whale kids earlier in the day, so who knows who was in this pile of kids at play...

...we heard there was a humpback not far...so off we went to see...

...why it's BCY0324 and she's been around for at least a week now!...notice the browish color in the water...it reminded me of the water in the Strait of Georgia that just about always has that...but not here...what was it?...I asked Simon of Ocean Ecoventures and Ivan of the Western Prince and found out that it is an algae bloom...here's a link to read more about it...
...the humpback turned into Spieden Channel...I had already called the folks at Lonesome Cove Resort...nobody was home!!! oh, no...and look...right by their dock!

...very cool...
...if J pod continues to find food and the L12s too, then they 'should' be around...it's just that sometimes we don't always know exactly where they are all the time...can't wait til tomorrow :)

5-18-13 It Began and Ended with Kayakers

Saturday, May 18th

...I didn't know where the whales were, but shortly before leaving for the harbor I noticed several kayaks quite a distance from shore - that should have been my first clue...just 30 minutes later, leaving the dock on Maya's Westside Charters another boat radios that the whales were just to the south of us...now I know why those kayakers were out there!
...J Pod was spread from shore to a mile or so offshore heading down island at a good speed...after a while they stopped and were socializing...some surfaced with kelp on them...

...I always love the eye...

...it wasn't long before they began to move up island...they stopped about a mile south of the park for a couple hours...when they moved up island, they were really close to shore, like 'on the rocks'...this image is as they are passing the cove just north of the lighthouse...

...they continued to move up island in a resting pattern, passing some kayakers...

...I wonder if J pod knows just how much people love seeing them!

6-20-11 Twelve Spyhops and One More For Good Measure

Sunday/Monday, June 19/20th
Sunday
...in the afternoon the whales came up the west side of the island...it was a shore day for me...the seas were quite wild, so even seeing a whale could be a challenge...I got a glimpse of the leader - Skagit K-13...traveling farther offshore and parallel to her was Blackberry J-27...there were others in the mix but I only got fin tips of them...
...Shachi J-19, in a bit closer with a lunge - that helped!

...the whales were spread for miles...the last two groups were the J16s and the J14s...Riptide J-30 with his mom and one of his sisters...(little did we know that Riptide would go missing over the winter)...

Monday
...when last seen last evening, the whales were going up island, but this morning the K13s showed up coming up island!...so we know what they did sometime in the night...this is Deadhead K-27 - we didn't know it, but she was pregnant and soon to have a baby!

...it wasn't long before they came back down island again...
...and then up island again, only this time Group B of J pod and they were in a resting line...

I didn't delay this time and headed up island to see if I could see them from another location...whale watching through the trees...

...out on Maya's Westside Charters a short while later, we didn't go very far to find the whales - like a 1/2 mile out of Snug Harbor...the whales had been in a resting pattern for quite a while and it wasn't too long before they 'woke up'...a spyhop here another over there...

...other surface actions...some 'hugging' moments or so they look like that...

...the K13s, who had stayed south, changed direction and came up island too...
...as we were coming back in to the harbor, we learned that echolocation clicks were being heard from the Lime Kiln hydrophones - ah, Group A was around somewhere!
...I couldn't make it to the park, but located the whales farther north...a kayaker was paddling out from shore and setting himself up to watch the whales go by...what happened next was the funniest thing!

...sometimes I wonder

 if the whales are having

 more fun than the humans!