12-30-14 Blackberry J-27 the Main Focus Today

Tuesday, December 30th
...the last few days - when J pod came out of Puget Sound on the 28th, Blackberry had something on him, a satellite tag...but at that time I didn't know...I heard them faintly over the Lime Kiln hydrophones after 10 pm...but instead of them going out toward the open ocean, they went north...but I didn't know that until they showed up in Spieden Channel today...
...there is a tracking device page to see where he has traveled...

...it's salmon the whales need...if you haven't signed the petition to raise awareness to get some action done to remove dams on the Snake River - see upper right corner on this blog for a link to the Southern Resident Killer Whale Salmon Initiative and read the petition and consider signing it...
...also if you live in Puget Sound and like to be outside and work with your hands check out Whale Scout...that group is doing good work in different areas in Puget Sound to improve the habitat for salmon...


...so let's move on to Blackberry, as he is the main focus today...
...out on Maya's Westside Charters, what a surprise it was to get a call, before the trip, that whales were in Spieden Channel...evidently before we had gotten on scene there had only been four whales seen, Granny J-2 and Oreo J-22 and her two boys...
...by the time we got to the area where they had been, it took a short while before seeing a whale and that first whale was Blackberry J-27...

...a close up of his satellite tag...

...another angle...

...the whales were spread way out in ones and twos...taking long dives...Onyx L-87 will often travel off by himself, but I don't think that is very common with Blackberry J-27...but then again just about everyone was way spread out...

...we had only seen Blackberry until one of the passengers, who is the 'lookout' when they go hunting, and boy does she have the eye!...no binos either...she spotted a whale over a mile in the distance...then a few others appeared off in the distance too...that was Granny J-2 and the J22s...

...we heard there were others to the north who were coming down toward Turn Pt., but they were too far for us to even see...and the ones we were with were heading up island toward Turn Pt...

...the whales continued up and into Swanson Channel...eventually we did see some members of the family groups in J pod, not sure about the J14s though, and we didn't see the J16s, BUT we heard that way up in front is where the J16s were and traveling next to Slick J-16 was a new baby, designated by the Center for Whale Research as J-50!
...we hope to see that baby in the near future...hope is all we can do at this point - hope that this baby survives...
...in the middle of waiting for the whales to surface from their long dives, a bald eagle and the moon gave a great opportunity shot...

...a little while later over by Turn Pt...

...so J pod headed north...tomorrow is another day predicted to be cold but sunny...maybe J pod will show up again...

9-19-14 She Was Pushing Around A Salmon!

Friday, September 19th
...they stayed...they didn't even go up to the Fraser last night...
...I could see a few from shore but soon was surprised to hear that some K pod whales were being seen too...
...this was going to be interesting...I just didn't realize how interesting the day would be...
...on Maya's Westside Charters...off the dock and to the whales...Granny and Onyx were the first two whales...they both have such interesting 'back stories' (isn't that the new term these days)...it was great for the folks on the boat to meet these two whales first and learn a bit about just how complex their social world is...
...we saw some of the J14s...Se-Yi-Chn J-45 and his sister Suttles J-40 were foraging together...and mom was several hundred yards away...a couple times tail slapping...

...we heard of other whales farther down island, so we went to investigate...there were whales spread all over...we came upon a large group...some of the K13s because we had already seen Spock K-20 and Comet K-38 a ways back...and mixed in with the rest of the K13s were Shachi J-19, Eclipse J-41 and Tsuchi J-31 - now that's an unusual combination...

...Scoter K-25's tag wound area is looking nasty...I don't know what is happening here but it's getting ugly - to me - looking...I sent my pictures to the Center for Whale Research...

...the whales began to move back in to shore in the afternoon...though we heard there were more whales than we had seen in the morning we saw the same whales in the afternoon...
...these are some of the K13s and they appeared to be resting...that was before we knew that Skagit K-13 was pushing around a fish!...don't see that very often anymore...
..a short clip with lots of 'chins up'...

...then we saw Skagit with her prize possession - until it was eaten that is...

I wondered if they would all continue up island...or if the others would come back down...so I went to the park to wait and see...

...it wasn't long before I saw Tsuchi J-31, Shachi J-19,   Eclipse J-41, and the K13s coming back down island...what an unusual grouping...they had been together all day long...

...then, just about to leave when someone calls out they saw a whale or more...well, what do you know it was Granny J-2, Onyx L-87, and the J14s all coming back down island...they were at least a mile offshore, maybe more, but Onyx's dorsal fin is easy to spot...

...tomorrow might just be another whale day!

note:  I am so tired I just had no energy to post...the whales come first, then rest, and then everything else... 

7-19-13 Part 2 - Scoter and the Tag Wound

Friday, July 19th
...when K and L pod whales came up past the lighthouse this morning I was hoping to get a better (see 7-8-13) image of Scoter's tag wound...
...as he approached...

...it's obvious to see that something is not right....these whales don't have obvious protruding bumps on their dorsal fins...

...zooming in closer...

...in this next picture notice the grey area around the wound...

...he might have metal still in him...not good in my world...I've sent my images on to the Center for Whale Research...
...maybe next time Scoter will come in another 100 feet closer...I might be able to see more detail...

7/7-8/13 Welcome Back Whales!

July 7/8th, 2013
...Monday began as Sunday did, with the L22s at their 'usual' location...but that was soon to change when word came that there were bunches and bunches of whales 'In Bound'!  
...today, July 8th is the latest in the year, as far as I know of, for K Pod's first appearance of the season...
...today, had J Pod not returned it would have been the 29th day since they were in these waters...that may be a record (a record that means not enough food)...
...had no whales returned today it would have been the 7th day in a row that the L22s were in here without any other Southern Residents...

...it was a shore day for me...
here are some of the highlights...Ripple K-44 seemed to be in good energy...two years and two days ago was the first time this little guy was ever seen...it was 6:45 a.m. at Lime Kiln Pt. State Park...I was standing on the shore watching the whales passing by, when Deadhead K-27 surfaced and next to her was a tiny calf!
...here is 2yr and 2day old K44 today...

...and he was having some fun!

...when the J-14s came along, it seemed that newly named J-49 was going to outdo K-44...J-49 was named in a Samish Indian Nation Naming Ceremony, just like Se-Yi-Chn J-45 and his two sisters...visit The Whale Museum to learn more about J-49's name...

...it seems that Group A and B are still in their groupings, with the J16s being 'floaters'-moving back and forth between the two groups...
...when I looked at my images of Scoter K-25, the whale who had been satellite tagged on December 29th, and even with a poor quality image of him from in the distance I could see where his tag had been...
...July 8, 2013...

...December 30th - day after he was tagged...

...I'll leave it to the Center for Whale Research and their expertise regarding these types of situations...but I wanted to show what I could see from probably a 1/4 mile away while standing on shore yesterday...

...part of Group B, Blackberry J-27 and Mako J-39, came north with the L22s and with Calypso L-94 and Cousteau L-113...I've seen J-27 and J-39 many times in the past with Spirit, Skana and Solstice...and yes, they 'moved off' their 5+ days in one spot!
...Mako J-39 with Spirit L-22 just about to surface...

...and then a while later Spirit spyhopped!

...all the while all this was going on, Crewser L-92 was foraging at about the 1/2 mile mark...there was a big flood tide occurring...most of the time he spent facing into that current but not really going anywhere...after over 2 hours of being pretty much in the same place, he then moved on down island...

...so, they are here...

...we are all glad...

Will the whales be 'glad' they came back here?

Will they find enough salmon to fill them up and sustain them?

or

Will they leave again soon because there just isn't enough to eat?