Top of the Page - it's important: Posted on the National Geographic site - Please read this!
Tuesday, June 16th
...late morning K pod whales, but not all of them, traveled up island. I was glad to have chosen Land Bank, which I usually don't, but today it was perfect for what was to occur...
...I was curious to know who was present because yesterday Group A went north and that way I could verify who else either did or didn't...I'm just a very curious person:)
...mostly in ones and twos K pod whales came up island in rough
seas...but everything lined up from the lighting, the angle and the
whales so I could see just who was present...
...Deadhead K-27 and Ripple K-44 changed direction maybe they were going after a salmon...a few minutes later they were riding the swells...
...Scoter K-25 was far offshore...
...Sekiu K-22 was in a bit closer...
...Spock K-20 and Comet K-38 moved through...the K14s were in the closest to shore...some members of all the K pod groups went by, BUT NOT Cappuccino K-21, Opus K-16 and her boy Sonata K-35...
...and then a large group came into view...oh, this was going to be...well...it already was...awesome...
...my assumption was that it would be J Pod Group B...but as they continued to surface there were way more whales than 'just' Group B...had Group A come back down in the night?...NO!...it was the 15 L pod whales who have been in and out for the last couple weeks... the L4s, L21s (aka L47s), and Nigel L-95...as they continued on by...
(...note: yesterday (6-15) when the whales split off and Group A went north...late that day whales had come up to the lighthouse and flipped back down island...it was curious because I heard a few L pod calls...but I wasn't at the lighthouse, I was just too tired to move...wish I had moved!)
...back to today...on Peregrine with Capt. Jim, we met up with the K pod whales, still spread out as they were passing Open Bay, just outside of Snug Harbor...and we watched as they turned and headed back down island into some not nice seas - ugh!...
...luckily the large group of whales - Group B and the 15 Ls - were still in their tight group coming up island...
...it was interesting to watch as they remained in shore and the K pod whales remained offshore...they passed each other going in opposite directions! what?#?#...that was crazy...but soon Group B and the Ls turned and came back down island too...
...after lots of opportunity today to see who was here...K pod was, except for Cappuccino K-21, Opus K-16 and Sonata K-35...the K Klik I call them...they have often gone off on their own and sometimes surprise us when and where they showed up again...so now I wanted to know if they were up north with Group A...or if maybe they had gone off somewhere and we should be looking and listening for 3 whales out there...somewhere...
..the day wasn't over yet, and Group A and ? were coming down from the north...up there the seas were quite calm...and baby J-50, now almost 6 months old, was being a spunky little baby, as she should be!
...we only saw Group A whales...someone else said they saw Granny J-2, another female, and Onyx L-87, but we only saw Onyx...that unknown female might have been Opus...when we got over to Onyx, and stayed with him for several surfacing sequences, we scanned flat calm seas but didn't see any others...
...but when they came down at almost dark, over the Orca Sound hydrophones I did hear the kitten call of K pod...perhaps Cappuccino, Opus and Sonata were with Group A...
...like hearing about these Endangered whales, from the many sources who post about them?...if so, then please support the efforts of many to get the 4 lower Snake River dams breached...
PLEASE READ THIS: Important! Posted on National Geographic site
...sign the petition...write a letter...order your shirt!
I wrote and mailed my letter to the President today - did you?
Don't wait! click on the link above to read about it.
Only 6 days left to your order your t-shirt to help support the efforts to get the 4 lower Snake River dams breached...it's not about a fashion statement it's about helping get salmon surviving and thriving so the whales will too...your help is needed now!
Sunday/Monday, June 14-15th
Sunday, June 14th
...it's been a busy and mixed up couple of days...the L pod whales 'had left the building' on the morning of the 14th and were seen heading west in the Strait of Juan de Fuca...
...J and K pods had not been seen the prior day or all day today, Sunday, so when I get word that J pod (at least) was spotted way north of Nanimo, well that is really telling us something. What? - 'where's the food?' Canada you have food for these animals up there - keep it healthy and abundant, please!
Getting the lower 4 Snake River Dams breached is getting more and more important and the whales are showing us why. Ordered your shirt yet? - as Mary Ann said - "put your money where your heart is"
there are only 7 days left for you to order your shirt to help support this...it's just $20 and add a donation too if you can...
it's not about a fashion statement for humans, it's about food for the whales...food that, if these dams get breached, will be food for the whales in a few years. We must start now to correct the actions that have gotten the whales' food supply into such a dire situation.
...the whales came down from the north on the 14th...at one point in the afternoon while on Peregrine with Capt. Jim, as J and K pods were approaching East Point and the entrance to Boundary Pass, Transients were spotted to the east of them just a few miles...
...we were surprised to see so many harbor porpoise moving past us quickly...then we saw the transients and got the answer to our surprise...
...the whales were spread far and wide...Lobo seemed to get into my camera lens more often than others...this is Lobo K-26 again...perhaps because of his very tall dorsal fin made it a bit easier in the choppy water...
...we had seen Mike J-26, Shachi J-19, the four K14s, Sekiu K-22 and Tika K-33 in the morning in even choppier water farther north not far from the ferry terminal...
...later when they came down, passing the Orca Sound and then the Lime Kiln hydrophones, I was listening for their calls...I only heard J and K calls and of course many echolocation clicks...
Monday, June 15th
...in the mid afternoon on Peregrine with Capt. Jim we met up with some of the whales coming north from Lime Kiln...
Granny J-2, Onyx L-87, the J19s went by us pretty quickly...the J16s lingered a while, and the J14s surprised us by showing up last...it was looking like there was a split going on because these are the members of Group A...
however, with them were the K14s but we watched them turn and head back toward the lighthouse...
...Lobo K-26...his mom and siblings were with him...
...the J16 family group, with two of the new babies, kept changing direction...then stop...then pick another direction...and finally continue up island...but I think no one was quite convinced they were going to continue that way...that is until they did!
...baby J-52 has scratches on his other side too...I guess J-50 was just getting all the attention!
...Samish J-14 and Se-Yi-Chn J-45 were traveling behind Hy'Shqa J-37 and her boy T'ilem I'nges J-49...Suttles J-40 was somewhere in the group...
...from what I could tell later, listening over the Lime Kiln hydrophones, other J pod whales and K pod whales were at Lime Kiln or down island from there...
...it was unusual to hear L pod calls in that too, because Onyx L-87 was up with Granny's group...I guess I'll have to wait and see who was where tomorrow morning...
Saturday, June 13th
...when you have a group of people who have never seen a killer whale in the wild before and you have whales that are going away from you and you are already a long ways away...well...
...out on Peregrine with Capt. Jim, we heard that many whales were seen heading west in the Strait of Juan de Fuca and where they were, well it just wasn't going to work out...
...and then, we hear that those whales had turned and were coming back in...and off we went...
...we also heard that it was L pod, J pod and some Ks...but when we arrived on scene there were only L pod whales...
...say hello to L-121...this baby's first time in the inland waters, traveling tight to the side of his/her mom, Calypso L-94...
...zoomed in...
...Joy L-119 isn't 'the baby' anymore!
...we really had gone the distance to see the whales...
...they continued their inbound travel and reached the west side of San Juan Island about six hours later...
...they did turn and come up island...for a while...Ophelia L-27, Nugget L-55, and her large family, Surprise! L-86 and her boy Pooka L-106, Marina L-47 and her family group, and Nigel L-95 came up past the lighthouse, some miles from shore and others a bit closer...lots of echo locating going on...
...by the way in the last few days those 'burp' sounds started up again on the Lime Kiln hydrophones...even Bob and Stephanie let me know they heard some!
...the L12s, that include Mega L-41 and new baby L-121, came up island in a line up...they didn't make it to the lighthouse - go figure - that's what this group does!!...and instead turned and headed back down island...
...the other 15 whales who had gone north, turned and came back down and here's what they had to 'say' as they passed by the lighthouse...
...J pod and most likely K pod are way up north!
Thursday/Friday, June 11/12th
Thursday
...calls over the Lime Kiln hydrophones at about 7:15 this morning...I heard J pod calls and bolted out the door...scanned but could not find them...back home and listening to the recording...K pod calls were there too!
...I was at Lime Kiln Pt. State park when the whales came up...a great day for me to be on shore...
...at first Shachi J-19 was leading the way...not far behind her was Eclipse J-41 and baby J-51...
...interesting too that Slick J-16 and 'CatchUp' J-50 (who was all caught up this morning) and Alki J-36 and baby J-52 were the next two pairs to come by...
...behind them was Granny J-2...as usual I'll call out Granny's name when she surfaces, so people will know that's her...one woman heard me and asked me if that was Granny (Granny was very close to shore)...when I told her yes, she just started to cry...she got to 'meet' Granny...and for those of you who know that kind of feeling I need not say anymore...
...and then...and then...Sequim K-12!
...it was almost like a roll call...slowly going by...giving us a chance to see just who was here...or most of who was here...
...when Slick and Alki and their babies had gone by, I noticed that Echo J-42 wasn't with them as she usually is...so a little while later when I saw Cali K-34, who had turned down island for a moment, I wondered who was with him...
...It was Echo J-42!
...notice how similar their left side saddle patches are...
Friday...it seems that on
Wednesday night or Thursday morning the L pod whales either left the
area and headed back west in the Strait of Juan de Fuca or are still
down there somewhere, because there were no L pod whales present (as far
as I could tell), except for Onyx L-87, but we know he travels with J
pod now...
...I stayed on shore on Thursday and again on Friday because the seas were not too nice in some areas...
...so I get an email from Capt. Jim asking if I'm going whale watching tomorrow...so here is my Friday afternoon reply...(click to enlarge)
Neither J or K pods were seen today, as far as I know...the Strait of Georgia had predicted gale force winds and the whales were last seen Thursday evening headed that way...
Order your T-shirt yet?..in support of the breaching of the 4 lower Snake River dams?
...it says there are 352 Facebook supporters..well if so, then why have
only 48 shirts sold?...if you are going to be a supporter of the
T-shirts then buy one please!
Wednesday, June 10th
...they had all gone up last night and were coming back down this morning...out on Peregrine in the afternoon, as we were heading up Haro Strait we saw some of the whales porpoising toward us...
...we watched this continue for at least 25 minutes..."okay, someone has to be coming in."...but of course it will be a wait and see if anyone 'new' shows up tomorrow...
...up at the same time were Tsuchi J-31, Ophelia L-27, Surprise! L-86, and Samish J-14...
...another surfacing were Granny J-2 and Samish J-14...then Kasatka L-82 and Samish and on and on...others were in there too...
...some breaching occurred by one or two who were following...
...now this would slow someone down!
...later in the day we went to see the whales...they were going offshore and into some unkind seas...when we last saw them they had begun porpoising again...
...someone had to have sent a message: "we're coming"
...sign the petition yet? Add your signature to help get the lower 4 Snake River dams breached - for the sake of the salmon, the whales, and the environment...your name matters! Want these whales and their future offspring to survive? Then get those signatures on the petition...tell your friends...
