4-9-14 These Two Whale Look So Much Alike!

Wednesday, April 9th
...it was close...whew!...Gold Wing located whales just a short time before we were due back to the harbor...and lucky for all we had an afternoon trip on Maya's Westside Charters...another whale filled day!
It's so wonderful to see the joy on people's faces when they get their first glimpse of a killer whale in the wild...and then to hear all the questions it raises...
...it doesn't take lots of whales...two will do nicely...

...T77A was seen in the inland waters (I think the last time) in April, 2010...he - at the time people were saying 'she'...
...this unknown 'female' was traveling with T103...

...the whale hardly showed it's saddle patch marking...one person got an image with a bit of it and it was sent to researchers...word was 'unknown'...then after quite a while it was stated that it was CA58 from the California transient community...
...well, over time, 'she' morphed into a 'he' T77A...
and he got an additional notch, close to the location of the first notch...refer to the DFO official book on the transients...so the second notch was acquired prior to spring of 2012...
...and look at how T77A has grown...no confusion now on whether a he or a she!

...T77A is on the left and T49C is on the right...these two males look so much alike, everyone was calling them 'the twins'!
...they were moving at a leisurely pace, zigging and zagging, taking long dives sometimes 6 or 7 minutes...then we couldn't find them...

...after about 13 minutes I spotted one of them over near this area on the western end of North Pender Island...we had probably missed a surfacing, but they could have been down there flushing out a seal...their behavior changed and it seemed as if they had gotten something or were following it along...
...there was a period of 19 minutes when they only surfaced once...
...and soon they had body parts in their mouths...lunch!

...that's T49C with scratches on his head...
...he also had new scratches on his side, but he had them before the seal take that we saw...

...no telling where 'the twins' will show up next...together? or possibly with others...and since they showed up together and we've seen their similarities, that helps in reducing confusion on the next encounter if only on of them happens to be present!

Once again April is 

proving to be 

Transient Month!

 

4-8-14 A Day Full of Whales!

Tuesday, April 8th
...it was a busy day with whales...first there was a report of 20+ whales inbound in the Strait of Juan de Fuca...being Ts, they would most likely disperse once they got closer...they did...
...out on Maya's Westside Charters for a morning trip we headed toward Victoria...on the way we learned of some whales already in Haro Strait going north...cool!...

...it was raining...visibility was less than a mile...not good for spotting whales...by the time we got closer to Victoria the rain had stopped and the sun was breaking through...
...and we found one of the groups of Transients, T75B, T75C, T36A, T36A-1 and T36A-2...

...these five whales were in travel mode, heading toward Trial Island and possibly toward Haro Strait...and it was time for us to head back to the harbor...
...in the meantime those early morning whales in Haro Strait were found...so out of the harbor for the afternoon trip we met up with the T49As and the T65As as they were entering Swanson Channel from Morseby Passage...T49A1 and T65A2 traveling together...the moms were traveling with the rest of their kids and they were spread out at least a 1/2 mile...of course, we wanted to see the babies...

...this baby has scratches that look like raised long welts- mostly on the right side...and then there was this one set of scratches on T65A-5 - 'J1'...for those of you who knew Ruffles J-1...it was a bit 'eerie' when I saw this!

...the whales slowly moved up Swanson Channel...we left them after they passed by the entrance to Active Pass and were heading up Trincomali Channel...

T65A-5's playful behavior about sums it up for just about everyone who was out on the water today and saw these most magnificent animals...

4-7-14 T86A Packin Her Meal!

Monday, April 7th
...I've heard it said that the whales will 'pack their food' and take it with them, but I hadn't ever seen it...until now!...

...T86A has a good portion of the Steller sea lion tucked under her pec fin!  

Oh, my, I never thought I would ever get a picture of this behavior!!! 

...will post more later of the afternoon trip while on Legacy Charters...

NOTE:  T86A is unable to close her mouth no matter when you see her.

Another note:  I don't like posting misleading or incorrect information and it was suggested that it looked like she had a piece of the animal in her mouth and it was just hanging down her side.
That can be another possibility since I didn't see this moment from any other angle.  I guess the best proof would to have a straight on shot - maybe someday. Anyway...it was cool whatever she was doing!

Who was present?
T124, T124C, T124D, T124E, T124A, T124A1,T124A2 and her offspring T124A2A, T124A3, T124A4 and baby T124A5, T86A, T86A1, T86A3, T87, T90, and I need to verify T90B, and T90C, but I'm pretty sure they were there with their mom...

...one of the females batted a big chunk of meat into the air...

...and the gulls immediately began getting bits and pieces off the surface...

...at one point T124A was pushing her youngest, T124A5...

...and at another point an eagle appeared in the middle of the gulls...got a piece of food and took off...

...here's another picture of T86A with her open mouth...

...it was quite an amazing afternoon...

4-6-14 The Antics of the Whales!

Sunday, April 6th

...whales were seen to the north in the early part of the day...lucky for us when we left the harbor at 1:00 on Maya's Westside Charters we headed straight out about four miles and met up with a very fun group of Ts!

...it was the T49As and the T65As...both families have a new baby, a total of three other young kids, and the two older boys shown above...for a total of 9 whales present today...(T49A2 keeps it confusing because he/she travels with T49B and her family)

...

...no one wanted to leave, but sometimes you just have to go back to the harbor...

...here's a clip of some of their fun...

...as I wrote this post this evening I heard the whales' calls in the distance over the Lime Kiln hydrophones from about 6:15 until 9:30pm...
...and tomorrow we might not have a clue where they are!

4-5-14 Whales, Pacific White Sided Dolphins, and Eagles!

April 3rd...
7:11 a.m. on the Orca Sound hydrophones...sounded like they were having breakfast - the T49As and the T65As...the calm sea conditions may have contributed to making it sound as if they were much closer than they actually were...however, those calm seas disappeared by late morning and the few who did see them, saw them in pretty wild seas...I was glad to have been on shore that day!

April 4th...
...while on Legacy Charters...Pacific white sided dolphins - again!...a group of about 15 to 25...the seas were a bit choppy...the dolphins visited with us for a while, would disappear and then all of a sudden show up again...after about 30 minutes they completely disappeared...amazing!

...before the Pacific white sided dolphins showed up in March, lots of Dall's porpoise were present...when the dolphins showed up the porpoise disappeared...what is that about?

April 5th...a trip filled with bald eagles...more eagles today than Pacific white sided dolphins yesterday!

"I said there are five of us on this rock."

 

 

 

 

...the nictitating membrane...it's the eagle's form of polarized sunglasses - really!

...young eagle's eyes are brown and lighten up as they mature...

...no whales seen in this area today, as far as I know...maybe tomorrow...
I figure "everyday I don't see them is one day closer to when I will!"