6-5-15 Who Said They Heard L Pod?

Friday, June 5th
...6:30 a.m. at Lime Kiln Pt. State Park...

...going up island...

...I didn't even see him coming...right along the rocks in front of the lighthouse!

...an eagle after...

...something that small???

...looks like he was making sure he got his catch!

...ah, love this...someone else got a catch too!

...up island a ways...

...10 am - flipped and back down island...out on Peregrine with Capt. Jim...

...just when they were about to start picking up their speed...

...everyone started veering offshore and moving fast, west, toward Discovery Island...I thought for sure those L pod whales, from June 3rd, would be showing up again...

 ...the whales were spread along the west side of San Juan Island...maybe 8 miles..all now heading west at a fast pace and angling in toward one another...

...it was J pod and as they began to slow down...

...they milled about for a few minutes...maybe listening...maybe waiting, maybe deciding what to do...and maybe asking:  "Who the heck said they heard L pod?"  "Why did we have to come all the way out here?"  "What? Is this a new exercise routine?"

...and they spent the rest of the day moving up island...

6-4-15 A Natural Jacuzzi - Whale Style!

Thursday, June 4 - the afternoon
...every encounter with the whales is unique...some more unique than others...
...on a late afternoon trip with Capt. Jim on the Peregrine we went down island to see J pod whales...
...little did we know that the seas were building...
...but what makes for a better jacuzzi than choppy water, going every which way...
...add to that - kelp - the whales' form of a loofah!

...their jacuzzi lasted a few minutes, and they seemed to take several more, though shorter, jacuzzis while we watched them...
...to get things started...

...

...this was fascinating to watch...what were they doing?  They know!

...not sure but it looks like a peek of Mike's teeth...

...they began to move on...you can see her little teeth...

...as they moved on Alki J-36 was pushing her baby, J-52...

If I could have I would have taken video, but it was just too choppy and you would have needed motion sickness pills just to watch it!

6-4-15 Spieden Channel Points of Interest via J Pod

Thursday, June 4th
...there were no reports of whales anywhere all morning long...then 'all of a sudden' transients are seen near Friday Harbor, J pod is coming down President Channel and some humpback sightings too...

...out with Capt. Jim on Peregrine we met J pod as they came through Spieden Channel going west toward Haro Strait...it was full of interesting backdrops...

...Barren Island as the backdrop...I wonder if Mike is passing the nun (what a strange name) on the correct side?...

...that's Hotel de Haro in Roche Harbor...

...no specific backdrop needed for these two to stand out...

...and now for the church!...it's only the second time I've gotten a picture of a whale passing with a view of the church in Roche Harbor...

...a house along the top end of Henry Island...

...

...some of the whales went between the top of Henry Island (above) and to the left of a rock with lots of seals (below) and others went around that seal covered rock (below)...

...we watched the seals as the seals watched the whales...

...we now we had to fuel up...the fuel dock was in Roche Harbor...and then we learned that those transients near Friday Harbor were getting closer...we went to see them... it was T124A, T124A2 and T12A2A, T124A3, T124A4, T100B and T100B1, and T86A1...

...they had been eating and were starting to move along...

...but that didn't last long...some began porpoising...

...they found something else to munch on...

...they are methodical hunters...

...with many hunting techniques...

...just a fun shot...

...and all that was just one trip...
the other trip of the day we went to see J pod down island...we didn't know how choppy the seas would be...see the next post - Part 2 of the day...a very unusual encounter it was...

6-3-15 You Called-We Came-Where Are You?

Wednesday afternoon/evening, June 3rd
...so J pod had given a 'shout out' to L pod, or so it sounded like...48 hours later some L pod whales arrived - see prior post...
...up past the lighthouse in the early morning...

...and back down island...

...up past the lighthouse at about noon time...

...and back down again...

...only to try it one more time...up...

...and back down again...

...no matter what time of day today - from 6:30 a.m. until close to 8:30 pm anyone at the park or along the west side might have seen whales today...

(And since I wrote this the next morning I knew they were gone.)

...each time these whales came up and back down they made a few calls and more echolocation clicks...
...but where was J pod?...way up north...somewhere...
...I guess the L pod whales had done enough waiting and perhaps there just wasn't enough salmon to keep them here...maybe next time...

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This is not related to my blog, only a link to the shirt to support the huge efforts of so many folks for these whales.

6-3-15 If You Send A Message

Monday - Wednesday, June 1-3

If you send a message sometimes you will be lucky enough to get a reply...
...on Monday morning about 3:15 a.m. J pod came down from the north...they were clear over the hydrophones, first Orca Sound hydrophones and then Lime Kiln and then drifted off...but then at about 4:40 a.m. they started up again, only this time they were on both Lime Kiln and Orca Sound hydrophones at the same time...
...and there were so many call and so many L pod calls that I was very curious to know if L pod had come in...
...here's what I heard...it's the 'up-tic' call that is what alerted me to the possibility...

...but then when the whales came up island later in the morning and Shachi J-19 was in the lead with Granny J-2 behind her, I knew right away - no L pod whales were present...J Pod continued north and haven't been seen since.

...now it's Wednesday morning about 6:30a.m.
...and here is the reply to the message...

...I get to the park and see whales going up island...I could see whales coming across from Discovery Island and heading up...now I was really curious - it didn't seem that J pod would be coming from there...
...and then the few whales I had seen going up island abruptly turned and headed back down island...that's when I got a picture of Nugget L-55...I headed down island a short distance to see who else I might see...

...some L pod whales returned on June 3 last year...very interesting...perhaps the salmon or the whales have calendars...