6-29-18 Thank You Greenpeace

It was June 27, 2018 when Greenpeace came to Friday Harbor.  
I was unable to see the ship.
Early morning on the 28th, all of a sudden I had to get to town.
Maybe the ship was still there.
I had no clue as to how this was about to impact me.
As I drove to town I began to cry. huh?...what was happening?...I didn't know...It was weird.

I went back to the west side and told a friend, and of course, I couldn't 'keep it together'.
At 10:35 a.m. the Arctic Sunrise was in Haro Strait, just north of the lighthouse!
I could hardly believe it.

I remember the first check I ever wrote to Greenpeace and that was 25+ years ago.  And along the way, the my Greenpeace mug "I save whales, ask me how"...I didn't realize what a huge impact it would have on my life and is likely one of the reasons that I ended up on San Juan Island and doing what I do.  What a journey.  I just wish I knew how to have a bigger impact on saving this environment.
Thank you Greenpeace for raising your voice for these waters and all the beings who depend on them for their survival now and for future generations to come.

Here's a link to the San Juan Islander article:


 Now I hope I can stop my tears :)

...p.s. This might just be one of the reasons my blog posts have been lacking...I had been losing hope...I have it back now, I hope :)

6-24-18 Two Transient Family Groups

Sunday, June 24th
...the SRKWs are still gone out to the open ocean, as far as is known...

...a couple family groups of Transients, T49As and T65As, have been making the 'rounds' - just about literally - spending time in Boundary Pass, Rosario Strait, San Juan Channel and among some of the smaller inner islands of the San Juans...
...today they were encountered off the south of Lopez and eventually came up San Juan Channel, slowly, and eventually made their way into Spieden Channel...
...though they were on the far side of the channel, here are a few images of today...

...one behavior I find very interesting to see is when they surface going backwards...when you see it for the first time you think your eyes are playing tricks on you...but no, they aren't...transients are known to do this when prey is involved...not sure if it is like, "I have the meat, come and get it!"  or  what...

...they still have plenty of food wherever they go, but the SRKWs are having to search for food...the last two days there have been a couple more Chinook salmon in the Albion test fishery...the numbers are dismal - 4 on the 22nd, 3 on the 23rd, and 2 today, the 24th.  However, this is the first time this year that there have been 3 consecutive days of more than one-a-day Chinook salmon...
...some are moving in, which is desperately needed for the future, and the whales need as much as they can get now for their survival into the future...
...it's not an either or...it has to be BOTH...

In addition...

...so please do your part to help recover this ecosystem...

6-21-18 Orcas Chasing Salmon - A Good Sight to See

Thursday, June 21st
...by the end of yesterday J Pod, Onyx L-87 and Crewser's Group had all gone north...

....Crewser's Group?  Yes.  I decided to call the group of the four families who travel together, Crewser's Group to honor L-92.  I know at some point that might change, but for now, it seems fitting...more on that later...

...this morning J Pod and Onyx were spotted coming down Boundary Pass and into Haro Strait...
...when the whales were getting a bit closer, but still to the north and out of view...we were watching for them...then there were these 'all-of-a-sudden' moments!
...whales appeared, in the park, close to shore, going up-island...who were they???...Ts!...they went passed going north...it looked as if they were sort of angling offshore a bit (not unusual)...by then then were way in the distance...

...knowing that J Pod was coming down, attention was turned to looking for them...but nothing...yet...10 minutes pass...and all-of-a-sudden! whales surface directly in front of the lighthouse, on the edge of the kelp...it was those Ts!

...they were the T49As...T49A and her four youngest - T49A2,3,4 and 5...T49A1 has dispersed from the family, at least for a while...and T49A2 who has rarely been seen with his family over the last several years, and instead seen traveling with others, was present with his family today...
...the most stunning part of this is that the T49As had not surfaced for 10 minutes and they were heading away from the Residents at a fast pace - wild! 
I would guess that they heard J Pod, causing them to depart-at-speed!  The Ts have had these waters pretty much to themselves lately with no SRKWs in here and maybe they were surprised to hear the whales, with whom they do not associate...

J Pod traveled at their normal pace...the seas were rough, heard that in places there were six foot swells and more, making it challenging to spot the whales...and they were chasing salmon as they came down...

...by the late afternoon, some J Pod whales came up to the lighthouse and then turned and went back down island, where many had stopped just south of the park...

...several of us were glad to have had the brief encounter with the the few whales that we did...the J16s...the day before Scarlet J-50 seemed like she was either lethargic or 'pouting'...she was traveling well behind her sister Echo J-42 and Slick J-16, their mother...knowing that Scarlet is not looking good (from Ken Balcomb, Center for Whale Research, stated in an article), made it that more concerning...
...so today's encounter was hopeful, when all five of the J16s were together with Scarlet traveling with her mother...I know this is human interpretation based on visual and we don't really know what is going on, so can really only watch and hope that her health state will improve.

...Crewser's Group was encountered later in the morning when some whale watching boats were with another Transient group, the T65As, they 'stumbled upon Creswer's Group...heard from a captain that the T65As were also heading in the direction of the L Pod whales and it appeared that they too changed direction and departed the area quickly...we know this happens but both of these abrupt type of departures we haven't seen occur in recent years...

Crewser's Group continued on and traveled down San Juan Channel, passing the entrance to Friday Harbor and later exiting Cattle Pass in the afternoon...at the same time J Pod was on the west side as mentioned above...

...by the end of the day, it sure felt like these last couple days are like 'how it used to be'...whales all day long...but are they getting enough to eat?...they were definitely chasing salmon...always exciting to see that...but at the same time they were very spread out, which often indicates a scarcity of salmon...

...the posting date says 6-21, however, I am writing this post on Friday, June 22nd...the SRKWs have gone back out toward the open ocean today...and today the Albion test fishery had another count of 4 Chinook salmon.  
...I know that is nothing, but it has been either 0 or 1...so 4 seems 'great' in comparison...we'll have to wait to see if the whales will return in a couple days like they did earlier in the month when 4 Chinook were the count for the day...or if those four Chinook are the last of the incoming 'ones who got away'...

6-20-18 Js and Ls All Day Long

Wednesday, June 20th
First a note: Going from zero sightings of the SRKWs to non-stop, sometimes taking 2,000 images in a day, well, it was overload.  In addition it was troubling that Crewser L-92 was not in any of my images on that first day, because even from miles offshore he was easily identified. Then word came from the Center for Whale Research that he had died.  I couldn't post anymore, at least for a while.

So here's a recap until I can get my blog posts caught up:  J Pod and many L Pod whales returned on June11th...J Pod having been gone an unusually long time, 2 months and 2 days, and L Pod making their first appearance for this season which is not unusual for this time of year.  Some were here for several days, leaving for the open ocean on the 16th.  On the 19th they were seen closer, near Sooke, foraging and then headed west in the afternoon.  So when they showed up today, June 20th, off Hein Bank, well that was a surprise.


Today: It was late morning when J Pod was encountered offshore from the south end of the island...they made their way up to Lime Kiln lighthouse starting at about noon...and it lasted until 6:30pm.- no joke.  Yes, there were a few lulls, but they didn't last long...
Shachi J-19, Hy'Shqa J-37, and T'ilem I'nges J-49 went by first...they were foraging to the north of the park...then along came Eclipse J-41 and Nova J-51...way offshore was Onyx L-87...they continued on their way, but we wondered if they would turn and come back down (they didn't).
...next to come along were some L Pod whales!...word was that it was J Pod, but Crewer's group was still with J Pod...
...when going through images it came to the forefront that it was Group A (most of them) who had gone north,  the J16s in the middle of the hours-long spread, and Group B who had stayed south with the L Pod whales - WOW!  Didn't think I would see them split like that again...at least for the day...

from today June 20th: some images you'll see them going left-to-right and others right-to-left...that's what they did all day long, except for the lead group who kept on going north...by the end of the day they had all gone north...

...3:30pm

 ...6:30pm

...will catch up on previous days...at some point...


 

6-15-18 J Pod and the West Side

They came in on the 11th with some L pod whales and Js have stayed.  
No time to post daily, so here's a recap of just yesterday, Friday the 15th:

...one of their returns down island...

...this is only a recap of one day of these last several days that they have been along the west side.
...just hoping there is enough food and when they run out at this spot that there will be another for them to go to.

6-11-18 Southern Residents Return

Monday, June 11th

...everyone was surprised when J Pod and many L Pod whales showed up in the early morning...it had been a long time since they were in the inland waters...
...a few came up island at about 7 a.m. to Lime Kiln and then turned and went back down island...then at 8:40 the whales started to come up again...only to turn and go back down island again!

...then at about 10:15 they came up, Shachi J-19 in the lead(not shown on this clip)...they were spread out, close to shore and moved north passing the park...

...there is much more to the day...this was only the beginning... will add to this post until I get the day completed...

 

6-5-18 Transient Orcas What They Sometimes Do

June 2nd and 5th
There have been transients all over but not many seen from the shore on the west side...
...with the price of gasoline these days I decided to not try to catch up to them from land at other locations and just stay along the west side - :)

...one day there was a lone male far out...always interesting to watch anyway...

...on June 5th, sun-glaring afternoon but a bit closer...this group was steadily traveling up the west side, that is until a harbor porpoise got their attention...they did what they did and never made it to Lime Kiln...instead going back down island and offshore...but not until they had a snack!

 ...whenever they will do this there are usually exclamations of amazement...

...no telling what my camera might capture tomorrow...

6-2-18 They Evoked Feelings of Nostalgia

Saturday, June 2nd
...it was early in the morning, Haro Strait, a note from a friend that whales were coming my way...
...I waited...it wasn't long before they appeared from down island...

...seeing them, in their manner of travel, and watching from where I was, brought feelings of nostaligia...
...the video is shaky, the whales were not close...
...the nostalgia is of what used to be and who they 'should' have been...

...enjoy the moments and these transients slowly moving on by...

...seeing this type of travel up Haro Strait, in the early morning, was always special and not uncommon for the Southern Residents...but that was then...
 

6-1-18 Different Groups of Transients in Different Areas

Friday, June 1st
...whales in the early morning on the other side of the island going up...had to go see if I could find them...

...in addition to the T101s, the T86As and the T124A2s were with them...the same group that passed by the lighthouse in the late afternoon yesterday...
...it wasn't long before other groups of Transients were spotted in several different locations...and having an invite to get out on a boat...well, I couldn't resist...out on the Western Explorer II we headed south to where there were two different groups...
...one group was the T65As...

...unusual image...

...reminds me...

...there was an additional whale with the T65As...

...T49A2's mother and siblings were several miles away and T29A2 had been in Puget Sound with the T65As...so it will be interesting to see if they meet up somewhere along the way...
...we then headed over to the T49As who were off of Lopez Island...

...her oldest T49A1 was off to himself, while mom and the other three were in closer to shore...
...and then there was a harbor seal...looked like it was 'with' them instead of about to be 'lunch'...

...as soon as they began getting serious about 'lunch', T49A1, who had been offshore, came in quickly...

...later in the day the T65As and T65A2 were way to the south and the T49As were in Rosario Strait heading up...
...two very different directions...