...what a day...it began with three family groups, the T65Bs, T75Bs, and T75Cs several miles from shore off Lime Kiln. They were going down island and they were so far out that I could barely even seen the boats that were there...
...but it was not windy, and the air wasn't cold, so I decided to just watch...not thinking anything other than knowing there were whales out there near those boats...but oh, well...
...then the boats slowed to almost a stop...hmmm...then a boat turned...hmmm, interesting...then another boat turned and another...very slowly...the whales were going back up...
...then a boat turned in the direction of the lighthouse...still couldn't see a whale out there, but this was getting really interesting...
...then another boat..and now the boats were actually coming directly toward the lighthouse...
...a fella visiting with his family was telling me that his son's school class had built rain gardens that act as a natural filter to clean the water that runs off driveways, roads, roofs, etc....he asked what I was seeing, at this point the boats were at their furthest...his comment, "If I could see them today that would be just fabulous!" Well, the whales must have gotten his 'desire' because they came all the way across and were close to shore, right in front of the lighthouse. WOW !
...the whales, three moms, two juveniles, and three under the age of two, were very surface active...having a great time...
...in between the above images and the below image there was a boat incident, with a sail boat, motoring, no sail up, appearing to not have a clue as to the presence of whales right in front of him...(incident reported)
...here are four of the eight whales, right after the event...I followed them up island and was able to verify that all were present as they passed by County Park...whew...
There are images on the news, on social media, and all of us in this area and everyone who isn't, hopes J Pod will eventually, when there is enough salmon, make their way here, with the newest member of their pod !
It's been a long time since J Pod had a calf...
The mother is not yet confirmed...but the only images I saw - the calf was next to Tushci (J-31), and with them were Star (J-46) and Suttles (J-40).
...and that's a very interesting group...
...Star and Suttles were both escorts with Tahlequah (J-35) in the early part of her long mourning period in 2018, when Tahlequah would not let her deceased baby go.
...Star helped as best as she could when her mother, Polaris (J-28) was declining and her baby brother was too, in 2016.
...Suttles acted like a playground monitor, traveling behind Scarlet (J-50), as if to make sure she kept up...J-50 was just 3 months old and her mother, Slick (J-16), was helping her daughter, Alki (J-36), with her brand new baby, in early 2015. ...see Blog Post from 3-30-15
...There are more accounts of others...Tsuchi (J-31) has been like an auntie whale...she seemed to be in attendance with Polaris and Star, after Polaris lost her second calf in January 2013.
No matter who mom is...I just hope we all will get the opportunity to meet this new member to J Pod, watch him/her have a long life.
~~~
...on May 29, two humpback whales came up island, then down island and then up island again...and sometime during the night they came back down island and were seen heading west in the Strait of Juan de Fuca...
...this one actually has three IDs - MMX0005 (temporary ID by Mark Malleson, when first seen in these waters), BCY0660, and BCY0458...
..not easy to see but the dots and line on the left fluke match up and on both flukes the raggedy edges match up...what was confusing was the right fluke...
...in the meantime maybe it will bring for you:
- a reduction in your use of anything plastic
- being stingy with your water usage
- reading labels to find how close to your area your food comes from
...that's just for starters...I think we all might agree that each of us must, without delay, make changes for the sake of saving the earth and all that live on the earth...
- have you read about setting up a water dish for bees? - they need water too
- do you bring your cloth bags to the grocery when you shop?
just a few ideas...think of what you can do and then start doing it.
Change isn't easy, but if we don't change we will not make the world a better place.
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