Saturday, March 31st
...7:00 a.m.
...click, click, click - "that's echolocation clicks!"
...throw on clothes and out the door...no time for coffee!!!
...scan from here...then to the park...hmm...nothing...did I miss them?...did they go up or down...finally after about 45 minutes it was time to drive up to County Park - success!
...story for the day is on the images...
...and time for me to leave County Park and head to Lime Kiln...
...the J16 family group was not with the rest of J pod...but that is not too unusual for them...no telling when they will show up...
~~~
...on this day, and a good thing it was today and not tomorrow, April 1st, there was a visitor to these waters...one that evidently had not been seen in the northern part of the Salish Sea in 35 years...I don't know if there was ever a documented time of this visitor being in the waters around the San Juan Islands.
...the hydrophones detected a most unusual sound...something that went on for almost three hours...
...compare these to the J Pod echolocation clicks...
Friday, March 30th
...sunshine again, calm seas, and room on the Western Prince...a good day to get out on the water...I didn't know of any whale sightings, but after more rain and cold (to me) weather, well, with the nice day...
...it wasn't long before I learned that there were actually whales out there and they were near-by...and it was the T2Cs - again!...and they were in San Juan Channel - again! WOW!
Recently I've written several blog posts about them...so enjoy images from today.
...this is at Whale Rocks, Cattle Pass
Wednesday, March 28th
Whales were spotted off Friday Harbor- again! It's been a busy place so far this year...they were coming up island...so it was, once again, time to go to Ruben Tarte Park...
...two males, T49A1 was born in 2001 and T124C was born in 1992 (ref: DFO Bigg's Transient IDs). They have been seen traveling together recently. It will be interesting to see how long they travel with each other. For a couple seasons, T124C was encountered several times traveling completely alone...no other whales anywhere...then he would show up with some of his family...so you never know who will be with whom when the Transients are seen.
Here's where they went during the time I saw them...it was like an Island naming experience...
...I last saw them, miles in the distance from County Park (no image), as they made their way across Haro Strait and to the west...but did they go to the north or the south?...
Sunday, March 18th
...J Pod had been north since passing through Haro Strait in the early hours of March 4th...
...a couple times they were seen coming south but when they were still miles and miles away they turned and went back north...
...guess where the salmon are?...we hope...
...then this morning whales were spotted...and it wasn't long before it was confirmed as J Pod!
...oh, the excitement to see our friends again...
...however, it is only March and not a time of year to see them very often...
...food is of utmost importance...
...out on the Western Prince (thank you, thank you!!)
...the whales were spread far and wide...some appeared to be foraging along the way...
...they moved slowly, like they weren't in any hurry, a breach or two, some wild looking foraging action in the far distance, small groups...
...the whales had come down Boundary Pass and were aiming toward Turn Pt. and then Haro Strait...
...on the way back we stopped at Green Pt., Spieden Island to look at the Steller sea lions...later, when I looked at my images I noticed something on the front flipper...what's that?...so I sent off the image to the Steller sea lion researchers...it's great to get back information about the animal...likely 84R...but the tag was difficult to read...and 'if' it is 84R: a female, who was born in 2001 and was last sighted in 2015 in Oregon.
The NOAA researcher stated that the tag was originally white and overtime turns yellowish or orange. The tag might have been put there when she was branded, if she was, or that it could be a 'rehab' tag put there by the Marine Mammal Center in California.
Whichever, it's interesting to see this...never before seen a tag like this...more to look for in the future!
...now on shore along the west side waiting for the whales...at first I was at County Park and then moved on to the overlook south of Lime Kiln...
...the whales made the turn at Turn Pt. into Haro Strait, and on down...it took them quite a while to come into view...they were far from shore...their back lit blows could be seen...their calls
could be heard over the hydrophones...first the Orca Sound and then Lime
Kiln...
...everyone was so very glad to see them...
...catching up - March 12 - 16
...on March 12 the T2Cs were off the southwest side of San Juan Island, not ever coming up as far as Lime Kiln...late in the day the T18s were also off the west side of San Juan Island - BUT they were miles from shore...
...in the middle of the night and early on March 13, Transient calls were heard over both Lime Kiln and Orca Sound Hps...hmmm. so was it the T18s?...the T2Cs?...who knew - only those whales knew...
...by mid day the T18s came up past Friday Harbor and lots and lots of whales were seen far-off from the southwest side of San Juan Island...the skies clouded over and it rained - not good for seeing things out there...but late in the afternoon Ts were heard over the Lime Kiln - faintly and much louder over the Orca Sound Hps - ah-ha! so they were going north...
...March 14...seems that Ruben Tarte Park on the east side of the island has been a busy 'whale place' lately and I find myself checking out that location often...so...oh, my - there were whales!...very far offshore...at first it looked like four - a male, a juvenile and a couple others...then I saw another - a bigger male...okay, more than 4...must have been some from the day before...they went the opposite direction from where I was, but those out on boats got to see them...
...it isn't always by happenstance that I find whales, often I get a heads up, which is very much appreciated...sometimes it works out and sometimes not...
...so on March 15 when I learn of whales passing Friday Harbor in the morning and going down island...well, out the door at a run!...
...as I am coming down the hill toward Cattle Pass I see a big blow outside of the pass, to the south. Who's that! HB or KW? ...the whales I knew about were coming down San Juan Channel toward Cattle Pass...this was getting even more intriguing!...
...there was a boat with the whales coming down...it was a good size group - the T100s - 7 KWs I believe, but it looked like more...I thought there were a couple of the T49s in there, but later saw that I was wrong...
...and that blow outside of Cattle Pass did belong an adult male, I saw him three times...after the group exited the pass, I drove up to a pull-out and saw the large group that had come out of the pass and then saw one adult male off from the group but traveling in the same direction...
...so it is now ONLY 10:30 in the morning on March 15 and ANOTHER group is coming down San Juan Channel!...this time I was fortunate to get on the Western Prince...
...here's a short clip of the T137s, T46s and some of the T46Bs as they were in travel mode going down San Juan Channel - a busy whale place on this day!
...we stopped at Whale Rocks to see the Steller sea lions - AND - a California sea lion hauled too...
...we then continued back up island...the T2Cs, who had been with that 2nd Group, had slowed down...they were still going down slowly... T2C2 was about 10 minutes behind the others...
...March 16...once again the T2Cs were spotted making their way down San Juan Channel, passing Friday Harbor in the afternoon...
...they continued to travel down the channel and exited Cattle Pass about 6pm or so...
...they passed the Salmon Bank marker going up island...
...I saw them one more time and then was talking to some folks and lost sight of which way they were going...so on towards home and this just stopped me...
This makes the 10th day in a row that the T2Cs have been in these waters, most of that around the San Juan Islands...
Read more about the T2Cs on my previous three posts...this is the family who has the whale, T2C2, with scoliosis of the spine. He is 13 years old this year and they have taken care of him his whole life. Now that he is growing and his nutritional needs are increasing...his body size is increasing...how will this, if at all, affect his abilities? It is a privilege to watch them. They are 'what the whales are about'. The whales are not about their acrobatics, though I too love a spyhop, breach, tailslap, etc...but it's about family and this family shows the humans what orcas are all about - surviving, thriving, caring, helping...
Sunday, March 11th
...just when you think there can't be anymore cause-for-pause with the T2Cs, they stop you in your tracks...
...not only did they come back to Ruben Tarte Park, where they had been on the 7th of March, today many of us got to watch them for about two hours, some as they were approaching and most of it while they were just about right in front of us...of course I had to continue following them through the day, because when I can...well, I just have to!
...
...T2C2 is sprouting and his food requirements are increasing!
...here's the cause-for-pause...
...I didn't see it as it was occurring and am so glad it was all documented on my images...just think of the depth of caring, understanding, and actually knowing what to do to care for him...
...was mom teaching the youngest how to care for T2C2? - wow! is about all I can say.
...according to the eco-type chart it's the type B and type C orcas that show a more obvious cape...I've seen capes on some of the orcas in these waters, but it's not real obvious...
...T2C3's cape was pretty obvious, likely due, in part to the angle of the sun...everything lined up for that moment...
...they spent about an hour right in front of lots of people watching from the rocks above them...lots of eating, (we could smell it) and since their meal doesn't stay in one place, they too are moving around getting it...and then they began to move back down island from where they had come...the tide had changed and this family usually 'goes with the flow' and that's because they won't leave T2C2 too far behind...
...they slowly made their way, passing the entrance to Friday Harbor...
...then down toward Jackson's Beach and through Griffin Bay...
...the tide was still ebbing...the current took them out of the channel into Haro Strait...
...this marked the fifth day the T2C family group has been in the San Juans...
...last year they were here for five days before going back to the north where they spend most of their time...perhaps, they will stay a bit longer this year...
...it seems they may have taken on the job of 'seal control' because they eat a lot of seals every day, and it's all done in the natural way.
