8-30-14 A Day of Meandering About

Saturday, August 30th
...after an 'out of reach' - just couldn't quite make it to the lighthouse day yesterday...today gave the answer as to who was here...
...Lobo K-26 and members of the K14s came up island...it was mid morning...

...this time I didn't race to the lighthouse, I stayed put at one of the pull outs south of there...as I thought, they turned and went back down island...
...out on Maya's Westside Charters later on to see what the whales were up to...meandering...

...down island for a while, then up island for a while...

...to answer that, they're probably looking for fish!
...look at how Tika K-33 has grown...his dorsal fin is almost in the 'tall fin' category!

...Cali K-34 seemed to have a time when he just didn't know where he fit...ever feel that way?...it's been great to see him mixing back in with his family members...

...another group going up island - at one point anyway - Samish and her offspring...here she is with J-45...

...and here's Granny J-2 - you know - the matriarch of the Community - she's going up island...right?

...now she's going down island...

...and so is everyone else, except for this harbor seal...

...and now they're going out...

...will they be here tomorrow???...only if there is salmon for them...
...since no others came in and these didn't go out, I didn't expect who was present to change...so today Group A was minus 5 members: Onyx L-87 and the J16s were still out with others...somewhere...
...but the K12s were still here today...

8/25-29/14 Talk About Mixing It Up - Whew!

Monday - Thursday, August 25-28
...there have been times in past years - the whales go up and the whales go down - they stay in their 'nice groupings' - well, that appears to be a thing of the past!...at least for this season...and it is getting more crazy...

Monday, August 25th
...on Monday morning I heard that some Js, some Ks (there could only be three because all the rest had gone north the day before), and some Ls were seen west of Race Rocks, somewhere, and they were heading west..bye-bye...

...and on Monday Group A, the K12s, K13s, and K14s family groups and the J10s (Oreo's group)...none of them were seen anywhere!...and there was a question as to where Onyx L-87 was - north or south??? - no one was sure...
...and were the J16s with them? - not sure on that one either...

Tuesday, August 26th
...Ts, Ts, and more Ts (see 2 posts prior to this post)...no Residents anywhere...
...that is until I got a call that Granny J-2 was seen up near the Campbell River!
-okay this is getting freaky...

Wednesday, August 27th
...it was late afternoon, on Maya's Westside Charters, shortly out of the harbor we saw a mom and 2 of her kids...raccoons that is!
...and then we get the call - lots of whales and they were not far...in Haro Strait, in bound and coming toward the island...

...I was so curious as to who was present...
...Blackberry J-27...(notice the sunshine)

...Mako J-39 and...

...the J17s are here...

...and so are some of those L pod whales from the other day...

...and bingo - Onyx L-87!!

...so is it still 'breaking news' now that he has done this twice this season...I think that somehow J-27 plays a role in this...maybe Onyx wants to hang out with other adult males other than Mike J-26 who is very clingy to his mom...
...Nugget L-55 and her group travel with three other L pod family groups...I saw others in her group...

...and I saw Nigel L-95 from one of the other groups...

...we didn't see all the whales who had come in, but I talked with one person who said for sure they saw Cappuccino K-21, Opus K-16, and Sonata K-35 - those would have been 'icing on the cake' to have seen them - they've been MIA since August 11th!...
...still in question are the J16s, who I had heard had gone north with the others a few days ago...

Thursday, August 28th
...bright and early in the morning...
Granny J-2! - yes, here they came back down from the north...but the challenging seas didn't help matters...and fog was trying to interrupt the day...

...I did see enough whales to be pretty sure those who I knew had gone way north a few days ago had come back down...some of who I saw: Granny J-2, some of the J14s, DoubleStuf J-34, Tika K-33, and Shachi J-19...well, she was so cool...

...but looking back north...

...and down they went into some very nasty seas...

...then late in the day whales began coming up island...I did manage to get a picture of Granny J-2 as she had just turned to go back down island...and we needed to get out of those rough seas!

Friday, August 29th
...more than once whales came up island...didn't make it to the lighthouse in the a.m....couldn't tell who and they weren't within hydrophone range - strange how the HPs don't pick them up when they are that close, but they don't...

...then later in the day...this time I wasn't at the lighthouse, cause I didn't think they would make it...this time they did!...well, I think it was 2 of the three - Granny J-2, Shachi J-19, and Eclipse J-41...and they were echolocating and vocalizing over the hydrophones...

...I'm already wondering how the season will 'end up' - there used to be a 'rhyme and reason' for it all or so we thought...actually there is, and the whales know what it is...

8/23-24/14 Another Split In the Making

Saturday, August 23rd
...it was J pod - inbound! - and it sounded as if all of them were together...
...out on Maya's Westside Charters, after seeing some Ts on an earlier trip, we headed for the Residents...

 ...that's DoubleStuf J-34...

...Granny and Onyx had headed up island, for a while anyway...then they both went back down island where the rest of the J pod whales were...

...at the end of 8/23 I had seen some members of each of the family groups in J pod and Onyx L-87, but I didn't see any K or L pod whales...

...so when the next morning I hear K pod calls on the Lime Kiln hydrophones...huh?...when we go out of the harbor (it was about 2:30) whales that were very spread out, were coming up island...
I saw Granny J-2...

...I didn't see Onyx L-87...he might be off foraging as he sometimes does...but I did see some members of the rest of Group A...
...all the K-12s...here's K-12 and K-43...

...the K13s...here's K-27 and K-44...

...and hen J-32 surfaced with Yoda K-36 of the K14 family, I knew they were present...

...and on second thought - what are 'The Cookies' doing here?!

...and they went up island...but where were the J17s and the J11s?...
...back home from the trip...all of a sudden I hear some calls on the Lime Kiln hydrophones...and they were very unusual...I had to go find out who it was...
...it was lucky for me, I guess, those whales had turned and were going back down island...

...now that was a surprise - the J17s and some L pod whales!

...at the end of 8/24 it was apparent there was another unusual split occurring...

8/23-26/14 - Lots of Ts for Lots of Days!

Saturday - Tuesday, August 23-26  (Ts first - Residents next)
...so many days with so many Ts in so many places...
...the T34s, T36s, T65As, T99s, T90s, T124D and baby, and I don't know who else!

 

...and the next day...they came the other way...

...the next day the gulls were on their own...

...

...and then the call came from the Capt..."want to go see some Ts?"...and these were the only Ts seen on this day...

...and by the next day those others reappeared, only this time in three groups here and there...we spent the day with the T65As...

...later on San Juan Channel...

 

 ...one more time - on Maya's Westside Charters...as things would have it...

...

...and there's more to the story of these 4 days...the Residents - oh, yes, they were here...some of the time...
...next post will be to fill in the who/what/where over these last several days...and it is very interesting!