November 13 - Late afternoon. They are out there. They, who? The J16s. Thank you, Rod, Eagle Wing WW out of Victoria, for the “coming your way”. Though you can’t see them in this image, that was their backdrop. At first I heard a few faint calls. A couple was sitting nearby and heard their calls, which brought 😊 to the people’s faces. It took a good while to locate the whales... offshore a good ways and far south of the park. Saw a splash-and another...then twice seeing that tall dorsal fin of Mike J-26. They are an independent family unit (four in this family) and have been for many years. No telling where they will be tomorrow, but we know now that at least for a couple days this group was likely not in Puget Sound with the other J Pod whales. Now I wonder if there are others from K and/or L with Js in PS.
...I kept scanning.
...the seas were not completely flat but there were NO white caps occurring, so when I saw a splash - oh, about 3 miles distant - I at least knew where to look...bingo!
There was Mike's J-26 dorsal fin...
...the rest of J Pod and Onyx L-87 had been in Puget Sound for several days...
..they were leaving Puget Sound in the late afternoon on the 14th...
...J16s were not seen on the 14th (as far as I know)...
...but who knows maybe they all met up...
...on November 15th J Pod whales were seen heading west in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, but where exactly...hmmm...
...in the wee hours of November 16...faint calls over the Lime Kiln hydrophones...
...yesterday there had been a good rain...more salmon moving in????
...this is beginning to shape up like back in 2013 when the whales were here for Thanksgiving!
...I wish ALL could have a good Thanksgiving.
...keeping in mind all the things we each can do to help this ecosystem recover...which will help the salmon recover and the Southern Residents to recover...
After all IT IS THEIR HOME not ours...
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