July 4 and July 5
But first a shout-out to Greenpeace - thanks for hanging from the bridge! just do a search for: Greenpeace hanging from bridge and you can read about it.
I saw it on the CTV News last night - go Greenpeace!
...Yesterday was a great day for the Albion counts, well great in the fact that it was more than 1,2,3 or 4...
...here's my take on it:
...perhaps the whales 'let them go by'...sort of like restocking the seas for the future, even if they don't have much, they are doing their best to stay alive and maybe even know they have to help out their own future.
(Gotta have a bit of humor with all this, otherwise it is just totally depressing.)
the whales continue to stay on the outer coast...gee, I wonder why...
July 5th
I have noticed when talking with folks, who are not in this world of the orcas and the challenges they face, that when I talk about the lack of salmon, etc. they don't seem to 'get it'...and then when I mention, "well, if your grocery store moved 100 plus miles away wouldn't you move too?" All of a sudden it seems as if lots of light-bulbs just came on.
In whatever manner, it needs to be communicated to reach the recipients, otherwise it isn't making a difference...
...keep on talking to folks and express it in words that will really reach them...
...it's for the whales!
Sunday, July 1st
It is sometimes difficult when nothing seems to change...and what change their might be falls on deaf ears, a lot of talk, and slow to action...and in this situation well...
...outer coast - yes! A couple days ago K Pod was seen near Tofino..same area where J Pod and some L Pod whales were seen a couple times in the last two months...
...and after that...I went looking for hope...so if 1 sockeye salmon, 1 sturgeon, and 4 Chinook were in the Albion test nets today...well I guess that is hope. That is the first sockeye since they began this year in April...and if that is all the hope to be had today, I'll take it...
...one day at a time...it's a watch and see what changes come about...look for changes where you live that will give you hope...when I hear gulls making a lot of noise, my hope level will go up - that means food and small food brings bigger food and...
...so here's to a day full of hope, even if you have to look for it!
It was June 27, 2018 when Greenpeace came to Friday Harbor.
I was unable to see the ship.
Early morning on the 28th, all of a sudden I had to get to town.
Maybe the ship was still there.
I had no clue as to
how this was about to impact me.
As I drove to town I began to cry. huh?...what was happening?...I didn't know...It was weird.
I went back to the west side and told a friend, and of course, I couldn't 'keep it together'.
At 10:35 a.m. the Arctic Sunrise was in Haro Strait, just north of the lighthouse!
I could hardly believe it.
I remember the first check I ever wrote to Greenpeace and that was 25+ years ago. And along the way, the my Greenpeace mug "I save whales, ask me how"...I didn't realize what a huge impact it would have on my life and is likely one of the reasons that I ended up on San Juan Island and doing what I do. What a journey. I just wish I knew how to have a bigger impact on saving this environment.
Thank you Greenpeace for raising your voice for these waters and all the beings who depend on them for their survival now and for future generations to come.
Here's a link to the San Juan Islander article:
Now I hope I can stop my tears :)
...p.s. This might just be one of the reasons my blog posts have been lacking...I had been losing hope...I have it back now, I hope :)
Sunday, June 24th
...the SRKWs are still gone out to the open ocean, as far as is known...
...a couple family groups of Transients, T49As and T65As, have been making the 'rounds' - just about literally - spending time in Boundary Pass, Rosario Strait, San Juan Channel and among some of the smaller inner islands of the San Juans...
...today they were encountered off the south of Lopez and eventually came up San Juan Channel, slowly, and eventually made their way into Spieden Channel...
...though they were on the far side of the channel, here are a few images of today...
...one behavior I find very interesting to see is when they surface going backwards...when you see it for the first time you think your eyes are playing tricks on you...but no, they aren't...transients are known to do this when prey is involved...not sure if it is like, "I have the meat, come and get it!" or what...
...they still have plenty of food wherever they go, but the SRKWs are having to search for food...the last two days there have been a couple more Chinook salmon in the Albion test fishery...the numbers are dismal - 4 on the 22nd, 3 on the 23rd, and 2 today, the 24th. However, this is the first time this year that there have been 3 consecutive days of more than one-a-day Chinook salmon...
...some are moving in, which is desperately needed for the future, and the whales need as much as they can get now for their survival into the future...
...it's not an either or...it has to be BOTH...
In addition...
...so please do your part to help recover this ecosystem...
Thursday, June 21st
...by the end of yesterday J Pod, Onyx L-87 and Crewser's Group had all gone north...
....Crewser's Group? Yes. I decided to call the group of the four families who travel together, Crewser's Group to honor L-92. I know at some point that might change, but for now, it seems fitting...more on that later...
...this morning J Pod and Onyx were spotted coming down Boundary Pass and into Haro Strait...
...when the whales were getting a bit closer, but still to the north and out of view...we were watching for them...then there were these 'all-of-a-sudden' moments!
...whales appeared, in the park, close to shore, going up-island...who were they???...Ts!...they went passed going north...it looked as if they were sort of angling offshore a bit (not unusual)...by then then were way in the distance...
...knowing that J Pod was coming down, attention was turned to looking for them...but nothing...yet...10 minutes pass...and all-of-a-sudden! whales surface directly in front of the lighthouse, on the edge of the kelp...it was those Ts!
...they were the T49As...T49A and her four youngest - T49A2,3,4 and 5...T49A1 has dispersed from the family, at least for a while...and T49A2 who has rarely been seen with his family over the last several years, and instead seen traveling with others, was present with his family today...
...the most stunning part of this is that the T49As had not surfaced for 10 minutes and they were heading away from the Residents at a fast pace - wild!
I would guess that they heard J Pod, causing them to depart-at-speed! The Ts have had these waters pretty much to themselves lately with no SRKWs in here and maybe they were surprised to hear the whales, with whom they do not associate...
J Pod traveled at their normal pace...the seas were rough, heard that in places there were six foot swells and more, making it challenging to spot the whales...and they were chasing salmon as they came down...
...by the late afternoon, some J Pod whales came up to the lighthouse and then turned and went back down island, where many had stopped just south of the park...
...several of us were glad to have had the brief encounter with the the few whales that we did...the J16s...the day before Scarlet J-50 seemed like she was either lethargic or 'pouting'...she was traveling well behind her sister Echo J-42 and Slick J-16, their mother...knowing that Scarlet is not looking good (from Ken Balcomb, Center for Whale Research, stated in an article), made it that more concerning...
...so today's encounter was hopeful, when all five of the J16s were together with Scarlet traveling with her mother...I know this is human interpretation based on visual and we don't really know what is going on, so can really only watch and hope that her health state will improve.
...Crewser's Group was encountered later in the morning when some whale watching boats were with another Transient group, the T65As, they 'stumbled upon Creswer's Group...heard from a captain that the T65As were also heading in the direction of the L Pod whales and it appeared that they too changed direction and departed the area quickly...we know this happens but both of these abrupt type of departures we haven't seen occur in recent years...
Crewser's Group continued on and traveled down San Juan Channel, passing the entrance to Friday Harbor and later exiting Cattle Pass in the afternoon...at the same time J Pod was on the west side as mentioned above...
...by the end of the day, it sure felt like these last couple days are like 'how it used to be'...whales all day long...but are they getting enough to eat?...they were definitely chasing salmon...always exciting to see that...but at the same time they were very spread out, which often indicates a scarcity of salmon...
...the posting date says 6-21, however, I am writing this post on Friday, June 22nd...the SRKWs have gone back out toward the open ocean today...and today the Albion test fishery had another count of 4 Chinook salmon.
...I know that is nothing, but it has been either 0 or 1...so 4 seems 'great' in comparison...we'll have to wait to see if the whales will return in a couple days like they did earlier in the month when 4 Chinook were the count for the day...or if those four Chinook are the last of the incoming 'ones who got away'...
