the last few days...
Wednesday, June 19th...no
whales but some nice harbor seals...we're looking for the pups to be
born...once we see one there is usually a 'pupulation' explosion within
the next couple of weeks....it's amazing how it all happens so quickly...no the stars
don't all line up or maybe they do, because it's during summer solstice
time - all the elements are right (they hope) - warmer temperatures,
supposed to be plenty of food, etc.
Thursday, June 20th
...neither
wind nor rain nor nasty seas will keep people away...and luckily the
transient whales who were seen today accommodated everyone by spending
their time where the seas were relatively calm...nice of them...
...I however was out on Maya's Westside Charters in the morning and my camera had a difficult time focusing through the raindrops!...
...one whale as he made a big leap...
Friday, June 21st
...transients
spotted coming east in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, so off we go on
Maya's Westside Charters...we're almost to Victoria when we learn of
whales off the west side of San Juan Island...back we go!...we hear over the radio that it's Transients...as we arrived on scene there were only two and not 5 or 6 as we had heard...then we learn there are more up island...
...the male kept surfacing in the distance with the trailing edge facing us, making it near impossible to see who he was...and then he surfaced, profile like, and I said to myself, "that looks like
Mega" - but he's not a Transient...it was Mega!
...so the L12s had returned, taking up their 'spot' on the westside...at least for the day anyway...
...we got surprised by both moms and calves...seems they were interested in watching us!
...as Matia L-77 dove there was this unusual 'whirlpool' of water...
...Solstice L-89 spent a lot of time in some rough water...a salmon place perhaps...
...one of the passengers spotted a humpback! wow!...lucky to get a fluke shot from a good distance...
...and the most fun, even if it did last just a couple seconds...Calypso L-94 and her offspring, Cousteau L-113 - All together now!...
...nice to see the L12s in here again...perhaps there is enough salmon to feed this small group for a while...
Tuesday, June 18th
...it's not uncommon for L pod to come in spend the day and leave in the middle of the night, but this time they stayed...down the west side of San Juan Island they came this morning...we scrambled and got out on the boat with passengers just as the whales were passing the bay outside of Snug Harbor...spread all across Haro Strait...it was sort of like this...
...some were heading down island and passing Lime Kiln Lighthouse...others were offshore heading for Discovery Island - and that usually means 'bye-bye'...
...yesterday there was lots of socializing in many small groups...today it was like the party was over...except for a few still 'at it'...two males - Solstice L-89's flukes and Indigo L-100's dorsal fin...
...the food was all gone, so now it's time to leave...or that's how it seemed...
...Calypso L-94 began porpoising...
...and so did Cousteau L-113, her offspring...
...Mystery L-85 was traveling with them and he too did some porpoising, though his was a bit in slower motion...
...the L54s - Ino and two of her kids began porpoising too...
...the L12s, L54s and some others were headed for Discovery Island...but they slowed down enough so that on our second trip on Maya's Westside Charters we had the opportunity to see Mystery L-85 and some of those others again...
...at some angles Mystery's dorsal fin tip looks like a butter knife...
...here he is again with San Juan Island in the distance...
...we got word that the T65As and T75Bs and T75C, who had been heading up from Puget Sound all morning were near the bottom of Lopez Island...then we hear that there is another group of Transients spotted at the bottom of Cattle Pass...the Residents were heading south...we went to investigate...
...on our way we stopped for Marina L-47 and her offspring Mystic L-115 to pass by...way up ahead we could see more L pod whales, all who were heading southwest...'bye-bye'...
...and those Transients?...well what a neat surprise...T75, T75A and the T36As...I had only seen T75 and T75A once before and that was in June of 2011...not long after we arrived on this scene, they went after something...
...then the little one...(just too funny)...
...the big male, T75A...I noticed later when looking at my pictures, had tagging wounds on him...I had only seen him once before - June 2011 and he had none then...
...the Center for Whale Research was on scene this afternoon with these whales and I'm sure got much better up close images than I did...those bumps look pretty big for as far away as we were (glad for the big lens)...
...with the Southern Residents, as I've said before, they need food not 'jewelry' nor wounds from 'jewelry'...and as for Transients...I haven't a clue what someone's reasoning is for that...it's not like they are going to do anything about where they go...and they have plenty of food options everywhere they do travel, and if it's just curiosity then...
...just something to ponder...
Monday, June 17th
..."in coming" were the words we heard this morning...
...L pod was on their way in...out on Maya's Westside Charters we head down island in the early afternoon...the whales of L pod were spread all over the place...Coho L-108 and Solstice L-89 were in social mode...
...Nyssa L-84 was off in the distance breaching...and breaching...and...
...by the time we returned for a late afternoon trip the whales had moved into Rosario Strait, so we went 'over the top' of the island that is, to meet them...
...one group was so wildly playful...
...of course you don't see a lot of what's going on because most occurs below the surface, but today there were so many eyes looking - the whales looking at each other and we humans had our eyes glued on the whales!
...a snippet from this group...Capt. Jim had his portable hydrophones in the water...
...the whales continued on up...I hopped on to another boat...
...only this image can describe these two young boys - WOW!
...later on Skana L-79 decided to breach 5 times!
...we left them at the southeast side of Orcas Island hoping they would still be here tomorrow...
Saturday/Sunday, June 15/16th
Saturday
...some whales were spotted early in the morning but not located again for a few hours...Capt. Jim had a couple trips in the afternoon, so away we went on the Peregrine to see just who was present...the whales were in Rosario Strait...on the other side of the islands...
...a great looking boat, awesome water with the reflection from the trees and the littlest one - T65A4 - surfacing...
...these were the same whales we had seen a few days ago...this afternoon they were traveling down the strait which provided fabulous looks at Mt. Baker...
...the Rhinoceros Auklets were in abundance...the bird life has been pretty concerning to many as there just hasn't been much, so any increase is welcomed...an indicator of other things regarding the environment...
...that's a WA. State Ferry heading to Anacortes...
...on our late afternoon trip the whales had turned north...we met up with them near the top of Guemes Island...I don't know how much they had already eaten, but this group seems to like to munch a lot (based on other recent encounters with them)...it wasn't long before they went after something...
...some people noticed the whales...
...
...they decided to sit and watch...
...a boat came along and stopped when they saw the whales...
...just like the other day, we didn't see what they had eaten but we got the smell of it...
...that is one VERY jagged pectoral fin...wow!...interesting...
...it started with whales and a boat and ended the same...
...we left them heading up Rosario Strait...The T65As and T75B, T75B1 and T75C...
...Sunday
...I guess they didn't go very far because the whales were spotted near Friday Harbor today...out with some friends we met up with the whales as they were just exiting Cattle Pass and heading into the sloppy water...
...they were moving at a steady pace when one turned - ah-ha! a kill maybe...
...yep - T65A2 looks like he is wearing his meal...
...and then they moved on at a steady and rapid pace...
...this grouping of whales - the T65As and T75B, T75B1 and T75C - during my recent encounters with them have done most of their killing quickly, it seems...because during the recent encounters with them I have yet to see the harbor seal at the surface...when the T65As were traveling with the T49Bs their technique was different...their prey (mostly harbor seals) would be observed at the surface and sometimes face-to-face with one of the whales!...
...it will be interesting to see what their hunting technique is like when they are with another different group...
...we humans have different ways we like to do things, eventually ending with the same result...I imagine killer whales are the same...it would be interesting if over time different groups demonstrated their preferred ways...whether we would ever seen enough to be able to determine a trend I don't know, but I find it's something to ponder...
Tuesday, June 11th
...out with Capt. Jim on Maya's Westside Charters for a couple afternoon trips, we met up with the Ts, who had been spotted earlier in the day, over on the east side...somewhere around the top end of Orcas Island...
...these Ts - the T65As we have most often seen earlier this year with a different group than they were with today...today it was T75B, T75B1 and T75C...during both of our trips they were either munching or hunting...
...often we see the harbor seal pop up a time or two or if it's a porpoise it is usually up and zooming so we get more looks at it...but today it was the smell...
...going this way and that, one of the females would move off from the rest of the group...and it appeared she either brought one back or a harbor seal was swimming away from her -du-du-du-du - [that's the music-ha!]- toward the mouths of the others!
...their behavior would change...
...talking it over?...sharing some food?
...we knew for sure...
...it was late in the day, and as the whales moved away from us the sun was just right to catch a rainbow in their blows...
...and on the way back, because there had been rainbows in several places, we kept on watching...look at this - a rainbow over Yellow Island - Sweet!!
..here's a snippet from today...
