9-25-16 Part of The Day In the Life of An Orca

9-25-16
...of course the title of this blog post refers to 'in the life of a Southern Resident Orca'...
...the K14 family of four had passed by the lighthouse between 9 and 10 a.m. going up island and not far behind were the K12s, a family of five...
...however, they stopped and spent about three hours foraging off from Lime Kiln lighthouse...some folks want to see the whales 'perform' - breach, tail slap, and other fancy looking things...but to see who they are - well that's just plain special...

...here's a sampling of what was heard over the hydrophones during the time they were present...

...also present and hoping to get successful...

...a few hours later the K14 family plus Cappuccino K-21, Opus K-16, and Sonata K-35 came back down island...they too had spent just about the same amount of time foraging but they had been about 7 miles to the north...
...Think each group knew where the other group was and what they were doing?  I'd say "most definitely"!

9-25-16 Humpback and Orcas On the Hydrophones at the Same Time

Sunday, September 25th
...they woke me up in the middle of the night - 2:37 a.m. very faint calls but they were there...the whales had been gone for for two days and they were back!...
...while listening, a humpback came into the 'picture'...

...the it sounded like the humpback was closer to the hydrophones most of the time and the Residents were much farther out...

...most of the orcas were way north by daylight...no telling where the humpback was...
...some others had stayed south and later in the day spent three hours off the lighthouse giving us humans an interesting look at 'part of the day in the life of an orca'...but that will be in the next post.

9-22-16 A Little ID Practice

Thursday, September 22nd
...it began with some morning whales...far from shore, spread out and foraging...
...so here's some ID 'work' for you...many people ask how you can tell who is who from such a distance (sometimes) and sometimes with lousy lighting...so here's a bit of fun for you...click to enlarge the image - it will still be distant...

...it was a sunny day and a good day to sit outside at the lighthouse, instead of being inside as I have lately...

...lots of gull action...skimming up the bait fish...these gulls missed more than caught...they fit the description of the California gull...

...J and K pod whales were coming down from the Fraser River...would they make it before dark?...

...it was just about dark when the last of them came past...and once again only they know where they will be tomorrow...most likely back out west to look for more salmon...
...the Albion test fishery (you can just google that) showed that the numbers for the Chinook had dropped (and they never were good this season) and the Chum salmon numbers were starting to increase...and the whales eat Chum salmon...
...so here are the answers to the three images at the beginning of the post...

...find the little things that stick out in your mind as you learn who is who.

...after all they aren't just a bunch of whales in the water, they are beings, who belong to a family and a community...they play together (called socializing), they forage together and share their food, and did you know they only speak the language of their community?  Yes. And they don't have a 'foreign exchange program'...so they don't associate outside of their community which is J, K, and L Pods.
Next time you see these magnificent beings think about how they might be interacting, whether it be goofing around, or resting (i.e. - sleeping), or echolocating (tap, tap, tap) to find food...what might they be up to?
They are fascinating beings and deserve our respect.  They are not here to entertain us, they are here for the salmon.  There is so much humans could learn from them - cooperation, caring, helping, and more...

If you have had only one encounter with them, remember it always.
If you see them all the time treat each time as if it is the first time you've ever seen them.
No ho-hum allowed :)


 
 

9-21-16 There Is Always Something Going On!

Wednesday, September 21st
...though they weren't all in groups...they seemed to be more in groups than in ones and twos...of course Granny J-2 was with the large group offshore as they headed up...

...a large group was way off shore (above)...and others in closer to shore...

...Eclipse J-41 and Nova J-51 were nearby...

...they grow up...hopefully Mako will be around a long time...

...so the day ended with Js north and some Ks north and L Pod whales south...I think...tomorrow will tell the rest of that!

9-20-16 Peaceful Morning With the Whales

Tuesday, September 20th
...my last post was They Were Not on Their Places...oops!  I had forgotten - it's September - this is what they do...and with the potential of more salmon coming in the entire community of J, K, and L pod have continued to be around...of course, not always in the same location at the same time...
...some had shown up over the hydrophones early this morning and were no longer at the park when I located them...
...enjoy a nice quiet time with the whales...

...and down island and eventually out west they went...they'll be back provided that more salmon will be coming in too...