April 5 - Part 3 - J Pod

 This is the 3rd & last post of a very good day!

The inset highlights the harbor seals hauled out at the north end of Goose Island. Of course the seals were paying great attention to the orcas :)

...some of the whales had made the turn and were coming down close along the SJI shoreline. 

Shachi J-19, Eclipse J-41, Crescent J-58

(recap of Cattle Pass encounter: first seen coming down far offshore...then another group of J Pod whales were coming down a bit closer and they were heading into the really rough incoming current...then this group paused and changed direction and went north a short distance and then turned toward shore and came down between Goose Ialand and SJI - the images on this page show that.)

And then...After it seemed that all had exited Cattle Pass, a person I was talking with noticed some whales really far across and further down from where the first of the whales were seen.

They were some of the J Pod whales and their behavior looked as if they were foraging.  To say the least, it was a confusing afternoon...but the whales knew what they were doing!

This 'event' raised a few questions...

I had heard that the whales had been in mid-channel and were foraging, taking their time before getting to Cattle Pass.  Then seeing some of the whales (maybe all - they were so far away) appearing to be foraging off the south end of Lopez Island...hmmm...What are they foraging on?

Was there a herring run somewhee??? that brought in salmon? 

Had there been a salmon release from a hatchery?

Were the Spring Chinook returning?

All questions?

On this day as the seas began to get rough and the wind picked up and some Transient orcas had been seen in a totally different area, the SRKWs had only the ocean to contend with - YAY!  

We can only hope they will have a successful year.

April 5 - Part 2 - J Pod

Part 2 as they were coming around and going down the inside.

 

 

                        There is still more....Part 3 will be next.

J Pod - April 5, 2023

April 5, 2023 

J Pod was coming down San Juan Channel.  Before J Pod came into view, some Transient orcas appeared going up the Channel and then the disappeared because J Pod was coming their way. The current was going up San Juan Channel.  Many of the whales were on the far side, closer to Lopez Island and people on the shore were watching from there and we were standing on the San Juan Island side.

Yes, that's Lopez Island in the backgrouond.

Who's looking at who?  

Other J Pod whales were not as far across and were entering the strongest current and it wasn't long before you could see they were fighting to get through it.

And then there were dorsal fins going every which way.  They were about to change direction.  (all those white things are arrows pointing in the direction the dorsal fin is going.

And then ---- they turned back to going up island.

They were going to take the 'inside' route - between Goose Island and San Juan Island.  It is so special (to me) to get to see them as they are making decisions. Today's decision was about the wellbeing of the entire 25 whales in J Pod.  They didn't just come up and zip around the top of Goose Island. No, they were together in groups and as they rounded the top end of Goose Island you could tell they were 'pretty glad' to be taking this route, in my opinion.

Here are a couple images of them as they came down the San Juan Island side of Goose Island.

I'll post more of this encounter in the next couple of days.  Too tired now :) 

Thank you, J Pod, for your presence.                                                    Hoping you will find enough salmon to eat.

February 10, 2023 - The SRKWs Were Here Tonight

It began February 10 at about 9:30pm...

Faint vocals over the Lime Kiln hydrophone.

At first there was a mixture of mainly the L Pod, up-tic, calls and what sounded like J Pod, possibly too. 

Today when I reviewed the recording from last night those calls were mainly J Pod and not L Pod.  However, it was strange to me to hear so many up-tic calls. I still wonder if some Ls were present.   Oh, well, the whales know and that's what really matters the most.

 Their calls faded out...hmmm...which way did they go.

Not much later they 'reappeared' their chatting continuing on.

It is now February 11 and just 10 minutes into this day and the whales, Js and Ls and possibly Ks have been vocalizing for 2 1/2 hours.

Their calls have mainly been faint and relatively consistent.

So that project I was working on was set aside to just be and just listen to the whales. :)

It's not uncommon for them to be here at this time of year. Yet, only they know when that will be.

And it won't be known, maybe, until daylight which direction they went.

They have many options.

It now seems they have stopped 'talking' or gone out of range of the LK hydophone.

They might be just out there...oops...I hear them again now...just a few vocals and more distant too.

How sweet it is to be still and to just listen.

Listening to them is almost as wonderful as seeing them :)

Thank you SRKWs for the gift of being here this night.

Behind on Images Brought a New Perspective

I am far behind on reviewing images and came across this encounter from May, 2022. Looking at these images from last year presented a new perspective. Now I don't feel so bad at being so far behind!

These images are in order. Not one right after the other but throughout the entire encounter.  During the entire encounter (several hundred images) there was no foraging, no direction changes, just a calm seas day and calm whales knowing where they were going.

From this human's perspective and perhaps the whales' perspective too.