It started at about 4pm when faint calls were detected over the Lime Kiln Hydrophones. I went to the TWM web cam where I could hear and see at the same time. Right now it's 3 hours later and J Pod is still in the area.
They did not appear to be close to shore as they came down Haro Strait. The web cam scanning was going on in attempts to locate the whales and after a while it did. Difficult to tell how far offshore but they seemed to be a mile or more (just a guess). At one point there were very loud echolocation clicks making it seem that some were in close. Could be or not. The seas were flat calm and no marine traffic/boats did I hear, until much later.
The whales didn't just pass through they stayed 'wherever they were' likely over near Discovery Island, where Juan de Fuca and Haro Strait merge.
It was a bit over 3 hours later they were last detected. Interesting that they would stay in that one area for multiple hours but their vocalizations indicated that they did.
3+ hours of hearing them makes me wonder if they had met up with some salmon coming in. That would certainly be good if they did. Were they chowing down on some food? Were they hearing others who were out of HP range and were waiting for them? Then there appeared to be a straggler. One call repeated over and over. hmmm...
Maybe tomorrow will provide more information. They know what they are doing!
