Calm Water

Today was a fabulous day! The sun was shining, the water was calm, and Js and Ls were on the move. We visited the two pods on the west side of San Juan Island. Our first trip took us to False Bay. Our subsequent trips found us at the entrance to Mosquito Pass and then north of Stuart Island. The animals seemed to be moving quite fast all day and with purpose. We got positive IDs on L57, J1, J2, J22, J34, J17, the J11s and L53. The animals seemed to become a bit playful as the day progressed and we even saw a J1 BREACH!!!! (A first for me.) We also saw multiple cartwheels and spy hops. The conditions today were perfect for whale and wildlife watching and we look forward to our trips tomorrow.

Megan, Naturalist

It's a Mystery

The photo below is of L57 (Faith) by one of our guests, Herb Hartmann, aboard the Sea Lion.

The orcas were back! We had a great encounter with Ls after two days without the Residents. It's always nice to see Ks or Ls as a naturalist because it allows me the chance to get to know them better.

We began our encounter at South Beach with the L22s. We were alerted to their presence by L79 (Skana)'s large dorsal as we was playing with his little brother L89 (Solstice). Spirit (L22), their mother, followed behind them while whale researchers took ID photos for proof of presence of this matriline. Unfortunately this group has only one female in L22. She is the last producing female of this matriline since her mother and aunt passed away. We watched this subgroup frolicking along the shoreline and then branched out to see a sprouter male offshore towards Salmon Bank. This male turned out to be Mystery (L85)... who followed his namesake because he was tough to ID. We were looking at mature male photos, which he wasn't included in since he began sprouting in 2004. (We call adolescent males sprouters because they begin "sprouting" a manly dorsal fin at the onset of sexual maturity.) Mystery gave us more surprises when he went down for a deep dive and surfaced right next to our boat! (Somebody needs to teach these guys the rules... 100 yds!) After letting Mystery pass, who turns out to be Spirit's cousin, we watched Spirit's younger brother Onyx (L87) as researchers took some proof of presence ID shots of him as well. Onyx was born in 1992 and is also in the process of sprouting that tall male dorsal fin.

It's always nice to go out on the water and see the orcas as well as the researchers, which provides an opportunity for our guests to learn about the animals as well as the people who are diligently working to protect them. Many times the best way to protect something is to learn more about it so we can be better equipped to save it by understanding what key factors are in its decline. We are happy to work alongside the researchers by sharing information to keep these guys around for future generations.

Megan Young, Naturalist

The whales are back in town! Orcas off San Juan Island!

We spent a beautiful and sunny Sunday afternoon with the Orcas! Yeahh! We were all so excited to hear that our local resident killer whales had returned after their 2 day stint out in the Pacific Ocean!
We left Friday Harbor and went out towards the south end of the island heading out into the waters where Haro Strait meets the Strait of Juan de Fuca and that's where we saw them!! Originally we just heard the J-Pod and K-Pod were seen...no confirmed sightings of L-Pod.
We were quite surprised that our first look was of L-57 (Faith)...a big male with a very large dorsal and an unidentified female, hanging out offshore. Interestingly they were both going on long dives of 5-10 minutes!! We then repositioned to another spot and got great looks of J-27 (Blackberry, a 17 year old male), his younger brother J-39 (Mako, a 5 year old male) and who we think was their mom J-11 (Blossom).
Moving inshore towards San Juan Island there were more Orcas changing direction with many boats whale watching. We were extremely upset to see a private boater go speeding through the path of whales, without even slowing down after we sounded our horn to warn them of the Orcas nearby. It was very upsetting to see they paid no attention, because just then surfaced K-14 (Lea) with her brand new baby K-42, and older brother K-26 (Lobo, who at 15 years old is getting to be a large male). Luckily the whales were fine and continued on their way. We had great looks at this group! And the baby is so cute! But it is quite worrisome that some boaters are so unaware of their surroundings, especially when our endangered pods of Orcas are around.
We kept making our way south and then got a great view of J-16 (Slick) and her 1 year old female, J-42, and another small calf who she seemed to be baby-sitting. J-16 even did a few spy hops to take a look around!! A truly amazing day of whale watching, with so many small family groups and behaviors!!
On our way back in we got to take a peek at some Hermann's gulls, Pacific Harbor Seals lounging on the rocks, and a lone California Sea Lion as well! I think this was my most favorite day on the water yet this summer!! I love when we get a chance to recognize so many of our Orcas and share their history with our guests!

-Jaclyn, naturalist

Superpod + 1

Welcome back Ks and Ls!!!!!!!!!!!

Today was our first superpod of the summer! A superpod is when all three pods join together for socialization and mating. The rain didn't stop us as we headed out to Stuart Island to see Js, Ks, and Ls all travelling together. We saw multiple spy hops and tail slaps as they all grouped together for the first time after a long winter. The animals appeared to be in good spirits and nice and fat. We even saw a new calf, which appears to belong to K-14, Lea. Newbies are easy to distinguish due to their mottled coloring, wrinkles, and orangeish patches. This little one can't be very old and so we'll call today its birthday... which happens to be our office manager, Pat's, birthday! Happy birthday Pat and new little K baby!

Today was not only a treat to see the superpod, we also had a researcher guest on board in Adam U of the Center for Whale Research. He was able to get the inside info on the calf as well as provide us with a fresh outlook on the orcas and the studies involving the orcas. He also shared some of his great photos with us as well as fun whale stories.

We do our best to stay 100 yards away at all times, but sometimes the whales choose to come in and say hi. They came in to say hello today right off Turn Point as they surfed through the waves. (Don't worry, our engines were shut down!) We got nice looks at J-42 as she surfed with her mommy right past us with a male from L Pod as well as another J female.

Today was a fabulous trip. We saw a superpod, a new calf, multiple Bald Eagles, and all the Speiden fauna. It's hard as a Naturalist to hold some sort of composure when witnessing such a rare and incredible trip. I'll keep you posted on this new K animal and let you know how its doing throughout the summer. If mom is K-14, then this wouldn't be her first calf and hopefully we can keep this youngster around.

Megan, Naturalist