Wednesday, January 29th
need a whale fix?...here's a great one...
...As Close As Can Be...well, how about a sighting from New Zealand...what a great video clip...
...makes one smile on a dark/rainy/winter morning (or whatever you may be having) day...
Thanks for the great clip...
http://www.stuff.co.nz/marlborough-express/news/9656879/Buzzing-after-close-orca-encounter
Ingrid Visser, researcher in New Zealand, might be able to identify these whales...from the eye patch, the male's dorsal fin, and the mom and calf...
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
Wednesday, January 22, 2014
1-22-14 Whales on News Stories Today
Wednesday, January 22nd
...I don't usually post links to news stories...this isn't really news, but a most fabulous view of orcas from a 'new angle'...
... a drone video taping orcas...I wondered when someone would do that! - too cool!
...I don't usually post links to news stories...this isn't really news, but a most fabulous view of orcas from a 'new angle'...
... a drone video taping orcas...I wondered when someone would do that! - too cool!
Tuesday, January 21, 2014
1-21-14 It Was A Steller Day!
Tuesday, January 21st
...calm waters, whales somewhere out there...out on Maya's Westside Charters - yes, even in the winter when people want to go and explore...
...Capt. Jim let Capt. David know that whales were seen coming out of Puget Sound...that's great, except that there are a lot of options once they get into that big water...
...but there was a chance, so down island we went...at Whale Rocks we stopped to see the Steller sea lions...those two youngest pups and moms that we saw on our January 4th trip were still there and today it looked like they were 'snuggled' in the middle of several adults...
...this other one looked young until he turned to 'talk' to the one getting out of the water...
...as we came around to the other side of Whale Rocks 261R's brand was nicely visible - R stands for Rogue Reef, Oregon - ...we send these images to the researchers who track the sightings of the Stellers...
...no whales did we see...but I did hear them...just a few minutes after getting home - just after 4pm, I began to hear the whales over the Lime Kiln hydrophones...the calls were very faint, and only for a few minutes...
I had recorded the afternoon, while I was on the boat, and saw that they had also been very faint over the Lime Kiln HPs at close to 3pm...they were passing by a location where the hydrophones can pick them up ever so briefly...when they are this faint you know they are way out there!
...calm waters, whales somewhere out there...out on Maya's Westside Charters - yes, even in the winter when people want to go and explore...
...Capt. Jim let Capt. David know that whales were seen coming out of Puget Sound...that's great, except that there are a lot of options once they get into that big water...
...but there was a chance, so down island we went...at Whale Rocks we stopped to see the Steller sea lions...those two youngest pups and moms that we saw on our January 4th trip were still there and today it looked like they were 'snuggled' in the middle of several adults...
...as we came around to the other side of Whale Rocks 261R's brand was nicely visible - R stands for Rogue Reef, Oregon - ...we send these images to the researchers who track the sightings of the Stellers...
...no whales did we see...but I did hear them...just a few minutes after getting home - just after 4pm, I began to hear the whales over the Lime Kiln hydrophones...the calls were very faint, and only for a few minutes...
I had recorded the afternoon, while I was on the boat, and saw that they had also been very faint over the Lime Kiln HPs at close to 3pm...they were passing by a location where the hydrophones can pick them up ever so briefly...when they are this faint you know they are way out there!
...where will the Residents be tomorrow?
Where's the salmon?
That's where.
1-20-14 Additional Visitors in Haro Last Night
January 20, 2014
...I did get confirmation that it was the L12s on the Orca Sound HPs, coming down Haro Strait last night...
...also, when listening I thought I heard some Transient calls...low tone...sounded like in the distance...it was close to 10pm - when the L12s were getting sparse on OS Hps and just before J pod got louder on OS Hps.
I put 4 clips of those calls together in one. It's just 7 seconds long...I noted that this is an unusual sounding Transient call - to me anyway, but the low tone is typical of Ts and not of Residents...
...Simon of Ocean EcoVentures contacted me this afternoon - he had come across T93 and T97 in Cowichan Bay...gee, I wonder if it might have been them...
...I did get confirmation that it was the L12s on the Orca Sound HPs, coming down Haro Strait last night...
...also, when listening I thought I heard some Transient calls...low tone...sounded like in the distance...it was close to 10pm - when the L12s were getting sparse on OS Hps and just before J pod got louder on OS Hps.
I put 4 clips of those calls together in one. It's just 7 seconds long...I noted that this is an unusual sounding Transient call - to me anyway, but the low tone is typical of Ts and not of Residents...
...Simon of Ocean EcoVentures contacted me this afternoon - he had come across T93 and T97 in Cowichan Bay...gee, I wonder if it might have been them...
Monday, January 20, 2014
1-19-14 Well Hello 'Strangers'
Sunday, January 19th
...9:37 pm I hear faint calls on the Lime Kiln hydrophones...realizing they weren't J pod calls, I quickly switched to Orca Sound hydrophones and wow! were they loud!
Hello, Hello, L pod whales - now if you all would only show up in the daylight...sure sounded like the L12s (updated: Yes! definitely the L12s), and possibly other Ls, but daylight would be nice!...oh, well, will have to wait to see if someone sees them...
...then a while into listening, J pod showed up...
...here's a bit of what they had to say...
...when I last heard them, it was close to 11:20pm...the calls were faint off the Lime Kiln hydrophones...
...will those Ls still be around when the whales appear in the daylight - somewhere?...can't wait to find out!
...9:37 pm I hear faint calls on the Lime Kiln hydrophones...realizing they weren't J pod calls, I quickly switched to Orca Sound hydrophones and wow! were they loud!
Hello, Hello, L pod whales - now if you all would only show up in the daylight...sure sounded like the L12s (updated: Yes! definitely the L12s), and possibly other Ls, but daylight would be nice!...oh, well, will have to wait to see if someone sees them...
...then a while into listening, J pod showed up...
...here's a bit of what they had to say...
...will those Ls still be around when the whales appear in the daylight - somewhere?...can't wait to find out!
Friday, January 17, 2014
1-17-14 The 12th Man - The Whales' Version
Friday, January 17th
Everywhere I looked today I saw blue flags with the #12 on them...oh, yeah, that's the 12th man! the Seattle Seahawks has a playoff game on Sunday...
So just for fun...
...using the #12...
...12 whales are in the above image...
...12 x 2 - if each Southern Resident caught that many salmon each day
AND ...if each salmon weighed 12 x 2lbs
...the whales would be getting close to 600 lbs each day...
...and if that happened on an ongoing basis we'd all be waving flags for the whales...
Note: There are variables
as to how much salmon
each whale needs per day.
I used the above in a general sense.
Everywhere I looked today I saw blue flags with the #12 on them...oh, yeah, that's the 12th man! the Seattle Seahawks has a playoff game on Sunday...
So just for fun...
...using the #12...
...12 whales are in the above image...
...12 x 2 - if each Southern Resident caught that many salmon each day
AND ...if each salmon weighed 12 x 2lbs
...the whales would be getting close to 600 lbs each day...
...and if that happened on an ongoing basis we'd all be waving flags for the whales...
Note: There are variables
as to how much salmon
each whale needs per day.
I used the above in a general sense.
1-16-14 Early Morning Wake Up Call!
Thursday, January 16th
5:48 a.m. I'm awakened to the sounds of an L pod 'uptick' call, as I describe it...
...it was repeated several times, with some very faint other squiggles in the distance...lasting less than 3 minutes...over the Lime Kiln hydrophones...
...so was it J pod with Onyx L87 down in the 'big water'?...or could it have been one of the several possible combinations of L pod groups?...I don't know because I didn't see them...
...two hours later 7:47a.m. I began to hear those uptick calls again...this time with a few other calls that were a bit more clear...
...here's a short chip of some of what I heard...you have to listen pretty closely...
5:48 a.m. I'm awakened to the sounds of an L pod 'uptick' call, as I describe it...
...it was repeated several times, with some very faint other squiggles in the distance...lasting less than 3 minutes...over the Lime Kiln hydrophones...
...so was it J pod with Onyx L87 down in the 'big water'?...or could it have been one of the several possible combinations of L pod groups?...I don't know because I didn't see them...
...two hours later 7:47a.m. I began to hear those uptick calls again...this time with a few other calls that were a bit more clear...
...here's a short chip of some of what I heard...you have to listen pretty closely...
Sunday, January 12, 2014
1-12-14 Timing, It's All About the Timing
Sunday, January 12th
...out on the Western Prince with the 'crew' of The Whale Museum for a trip to see what we could see...it's winter, so much can be weather dependent and it looked like we might get in the trip between storms...
...north we headed toward Spieden Island...no moms and pups here, but there were a few Steller hauled out quite high for what we normally see at this location...
...lots of animals on Spieden Island and lots of water falls...
...but NO cetaceans to be found...
...that is until 1 1/2 hours after the trip!
...I got a call from Hobbes of San Juan Orca Whale and Wildlife Tours..."I've got whales going by right now and here comes another group."
...from Reuben Tarte Park I saw one of the groups - 4 whales - they were close to shore coming into Rocky Bay and were going behind O'Neal Island...
...and then...
...here's a clip of the Ts...they may not have been 'exciting' in their actions, but it is always 'exciting' to see whales!
...the other group didn't come up my way...instead they headed to the other side of the channel and one of the many passages...to disappear until they magically appear once again...
...out on the Western Prince with the 'crew' of The Whale Museum for a trip to see what we could see...it's winter, so much can be weather dependent and it looked like we might get in the trip between storms...
...north we headed toward Spieden Island...no moms and pups here, but there were a few Steller hauled out quite high for what we normally see at this location...
...that is until 1 1/2 hours after the trip!
...I got a call from Hobbes of San Juan Orca Whale and Wildlife Tours..."I've got whales going by right now and here comes another group."
...from Reuben Tarte Park I saw one of the groups - 4 whales - they were close to shore coming into Rocky Bay and were going behind O'Neal Island...
...here's a clip of the Ts...they may not have been 'exciting' in their actions, but it is always 'exciting' to see whales!
Saturday, January 4, 2014
1/4/14 Move Over Fellas, the Moms and Pups May Be Moving In
Saturday, January 4th
...out on Maya's Westside Charters on a sunny day with calm seas...you just never know what you might encounter...
...Five Steller sea lions hauled out at Kelp Reef marker...check out that shadow...
...on down island to see what we might see...not much along the way...we go to Whale Rocks to see more Stellers, which are known for being there during the winter months...in the past it used to be only Adult males...
..."well, fellas, you better move over"...
...it looks like moms and pups may be moving in!
...after leaving Whale Rocks we all were seeing some strange splashes - Dalls'?- too small...killer whale? - no dorsal fins...birds? - they didn't pop back up...we got closer...they were porpoising...assumption was Dalls...
NOPE! - Harbor Porpoise...
...starting 2014 with two very unusual encounters...what will be next!
...out on Maya's Westside Charters on a sunny day with calm seas...you just never know what you might encounter...
...Five Steller sea lions hauled out at Kelp Reef marker...check out that shadow...
...on down island to see what we might see...not much along the way...we go to Whale Rocks to see more Stellers, which are known for being there during the winter months...in the past it used to be only Adult males...
..."well, fellas, you better move over"...
NOPE! - Harbor Porpoise...
...starting 2014 with two very unusual encounters...what will be next!
1-4-14 In the Dark
January 1, 2014
...Transients in the early morning and Residents in the evening...
...it was a busy Lime Kiln hydrophone day...Transients heard before daylight and into the early morning but they were not ever seen...
...Js, Ks, and Onyx L-87 (presumably so because they were coming out of Puget Sound earlier in the day) were heard a couple times...first a bit after 6pm for a while and then again at about 8:30 until closer to 10pm...and calls over to the Orca Sound hydrophones during that time as well...they may have drifted over from the LK HPs...
...Transients in the early morning and Residents in the evening...
...it was a busy Lime Kiln hydrophone day...Transients heard before daylight and into the early morning but they were not ever seen...
...Js, Ks, and Onyx L-87 (presumably so because they were coming out of Puget Sound earlier in the day) were heard a couple times...first a bit after 6pm for a while and then again at about 8:30 until closer to 10pm...and calls over to the Orca Sound hydrophones during that time as well...they may have drifted over from the LK HPs...
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