6-30-16 A Mouth Full of Water

Thursday, June 30th
...out on Peregrine with Capt. Jim we head for Rosario Strait...one of the passengers asked what percent of probability was there that we would see orcas...I told her I would let her know at the end of the trip...we can't guarantee whales but knew there were some in the area...but we had to find them!
...I was glad to tell her when we got back that our percent of probability was 100%!  :)

...another day no Residents...
...another day...more transients...
...and today a harbor seal and her pup...

...so many bald eagles on Battleship Island a passenger asked if the island was called Eagle Island!

...a fish carcass was involved in this altercation...

...and then on to locate those transients...one of the passengers spotted them first!...yay :)

...going through my images later I come across this...looks like this one is goofing around with the water!

...looks like me...open mouth and get in 'trouble' !

9/27-28/14 Fish On the Head and In the Mouth!

Saturday/Sunday, September 27/28th
...two mornings of fog that broke into beautiful sunny days with calm seas, awesome whales who were getting some food!
...one morning the whales woke me up at about 5:15a.m. over the Lime Kiln hydrophones...the other morning it was about 7:00 a.m....it was socked in with fog here so I took off to see if it was foggy at the park - it wasn't!...saw the last of the whales going up island and watched as they came back down into the fog that was now coming up island...out on Maya's Westside Charters at different times each day we either began with fog or ended with it...but in the middle there was lots going on...
BCY0409 in Spieden Channel - that's been a busy place lately...an inverted tail lob by a humpback!...never seen that before...evidently this humpback spent most of the day in that same area..must have been lots of food...

...during the last couple days the whales we saw were going after salmon in a 'big way'...

...this is slow-mo, nothing fancy...it's from images not video...

...and then there was notch J-47 and that salmon on his head...

...along side of him...just how big is that salmon????

...about a week ago I posted this...

...Never thought I would see that!...Yes, it looks much better in the mouth of a killer whale!  Look at his eye!!...and his teeth!  

...that's a first for me!
...it was fascinating to watch him...he had just caught the salmon but we weren't aware of that...then we watched as he put it on his head...he left it there for several seconds before moving it off to his side...where you could see his eye - huge I might add - as if he was eyeing his 'prize'...or maybe just savoring it before he opened wide and bit into that salmon!...he ate it at the surface, or at least some of it and then dove...he was down for a couple minutes and when he surfaced he was traveling...on his way...
...over the last several days many people have been witnessing the whales with salmon at the surface - batting them up into the air, or salmon in their mouths...not only are the whales 'glad' we humans are too...
...but it's short lived...but we gotta be glad for what they are getting and for what salmon are making it to their spawning grounds to lay eggs to replenish the future...
...now to get the humans to think about the future for the salmon and and act to replenishment the wild salmon...

11-3-13 Going for a Whale of a Ride?

Sunday, November 3rd
Last week, while on Maya's Westside Charters, I met a couple from Australia.
I asked if they were familiar with the town of Eden, and the history about the 'killers', as they were called back then, who worked in concert with humans in killing humpback whales.
Not only were they familiar with the town, they had been there and been to the museum the history of those 'killers'...it is an amazing and fascinating account that spanned a long period of time.

They told me about Tom's skeleton and his missing tooth(e), allegedly from taking the rope and pulling the whalers out in their tiny boat (see the picture on that museum website)..and here's another picture of a boat they used...a wonderment.   There is a book written about the account...The Killers of Eden: The Killers of Twofold Bay

...fast forward to October 31, 2013...and out with Capt. Jim and an encounter with J and K pod whales...see prior post...
... I was reviewing my images, I zoomed in to look at the chin up or spyhop image of one of the whales...

...then I clicked on the next image...

...and the next...

...and...

...now if we did this surely we'd drown!

TEETH!

I remembered about Tom...

I'm glad the whales here

 in these waters are 

not into towing little boats...

then again kayakers, paddle boarders, 

and small craft might be in 

for a whale of a ride :)