7-13-18 It's for the Orcas and the Ecosystem

Thursday and Friday, July 12/13

Thursday, 7/12
...what a surprise!! - inbound SRKWs...and not only inbound but already coming across Haro Strait...J Pod whales and others...others who were first said to be Ls, and ended up being Ks!!  It's been a long time since seeing K Pod in here.

...it became a very mixed up day...mixed up in the way of which family groups of whales were together...you see, they split into two groups..yes, split.

...Shachi J-19 with Alki J-36 behind her, went past the lighthouse first...then came Eclipse J-41 and Nova J-51...a little way behind them were Slick J-16 and Echo J-42, but Slick and Echo didn't make it to the lighthouse before turning around and going back down island...they continued down and, along with some K Pod whales, some Js and Ks eventually went up San Juan Channel...

...the J16s, J17s, Cappuccino K-21, K16s, the K12s appeared to be the ones who stayed off the west side of the island...
...it was a busy day for many - whale watching boats, private pleasure craft, container ships, enforcement boats, StraitWatch (Canada), and Soundwatch (US)...

Friday, 7/13
...4:30 a.m. "click-click-click" echolocation clicks on the hydrophones...no vocals, but it didn't matter because some Js and some Ks were north and some were south!...which direction those whales went in the early morning hours would reveal itself later...
...they came quickly...spotted coming down from Turn Pt. the whales were passing the Lime Kiln lighthouse by 11:00...and who did we see but some members from each of the J Pod matrilines and Cappuccino K21, the K16s, the K12s, and Onyx L87.  So the ones that had stayed south last night were the ones making those echolocation clicks at 4:30 in the morning...
...by about 1:00 the K13 family group came past the lighthouse
...then at about 6pm the K14s came by, foraged in front of the lighthouse for quite a while and then continued on down island.

...seeing some large ships in the distance I took advantage to share with people about the Port of Vancouver, ECHO Program, a voluntary vessel slow down period...and it went into effect on July 12!

...but what about smaller 'ships'...like in 'boats'  whether private or commercial...well - watch for the FLAG and you will know:

...you might see that flag along a shoreline (image at Lime Kiln lighthouse) or flying from a boat or even perhaps a kayak.  When you see that flag - WHALES ARE IN THE AREA!  

Thank you, boaters, for slowing down.  
Thank you, boaters for flying the flag when you see whales - you will be alerting others too!

and at the end of the day...

It's all for the whales!
          It's all for this ecosystem!
                   It's all for your future too!