July 29th with J-Pod

This has been such a crazy summer and I'm afraid I've been neglecting my blog a bit as a result! I want to catch up on some whale sightings posts, starting way back on the memorable day of July 29th. I've had these photos ready to go for a while but forgot I hadn't posted them!

Months in advance, we had scheduled an evening whale watch charter with good friends for July 29th. Shortly before it was time to the leave for the trip, J-Pod was heading north towards Lime Kiln, so I sprinted out them to catch them from shore before heading to the boat. Good decision! It was one of those special close passes. A few photos are below, but I also shared a short video of the pass here.

J16 Slick and J50 Scarlet give some kayakers the memory of a lifetime

 

It turned out to be the picture perfect night we had hoped for: flat calm waters, beautiful lighting, and J-Pod heading north near Stuart Island. 

J38 Cookie off the Turn Point Lighthouse

Most of J-Pod was hanging out in one of several tight, social groups, and we spent most of our time with the rambunctious boys J38 Cookie, J47 Notch, and J49 T'ilem I'nges.

From left to right J49 T'ilem I'nges, J47 Notch, and J38 Cookie

 Cookie has been in a very social/sexual mood lately, as evidenced by the following:

J38 Cookie

He's been doing a LOT of this lately >.<

"Sword fighting"

We also saw lots of surface activity from J47 Notch:

J47 Notch tail slap

Breach from J47 Notch

Another breach from J47 Notch

The only whale who was off on his own was J27 Blackberry, who seemed to be foraging off on the other side of us away from all the social action:

J27 Blackberry

And a beautiful ride home to top it off!

J-Pod Returns!

After nearly 5 weeks of no reports of any Southern Resident Killer Whales (anywhere, not even just here!) we were all relieved Sunday morning to get the early morning report from out west that J-Pod was heading back in. They were still several hours away, but it was hard to sit still, especially on such a beautiful spring day! So we passed some time by heading to the south end of the island where the multiple fox dens with their plethora of kits are another main attraction this time of year.

Watching these guys frolic across the prairies definitely helped pass the time!

In the early afternoon we headed up to Lime Kiln and watched as the whales rounded Discovery Island and made their way across the straits. With so many changes in J-Pod last year due to the loss of five of their members, many questions hang in the air. The first and foremost on everyone's mind was: would everyone else still be there? I'll avoid the suspense and say now that the answer is YES. We saw members of all family groups and identified nearly everyone as they passed Lime Kiln, but a few whales were too far offshore to ID. Thankfully today the Center for Whale Research posted their encounter update confirming everyone was present.

Another question is what will happen in the wake of the death of the matriarch J2 Granny, who was so often in the lead. Will someone will her role? Will travel patterns and association patterns change as a result? We at the Orca Behavior Institute will be diligently taking data this summer and beyond to help answer questions like these, but on this day, it was J19 Shachi in the lead.

J19 Shachi

From a human perspective, Shachi seems like a good candidate to take a leadership role for J-Pod. She was a regular traveling companion of both J2 Granny and J8 Spieden, including in more recent years when J-Pod started splitting into smaller groups. But only time will tell if this will be a regular  role for her, let alone a permanent one.

Not too far behind Shachi I was happy to see J41 Eclipse, my personal favorite, with her son J51 Nova.

J41 Eclipse and J51 Nova

The J19s, J17s, and J11s were all in the first group to passby. Often J27 Blackberry is with his brother J39 Mako, but on this day he was with his sister J31 Tsuchi:

J27 Blackberry and J31 Tsuchi

There was a short gap after these matrilines passed by, but we could see blows in the distance to the south and knew the rest of the whales were on their way. Another question for this summer is what will become of L87 Onyx, the whale born into L-Pod who has spent several years traveling with both K- and J-Pods. As his closest traveling companions (elder females from each pod, most recently J2 Granny) have passed away, he's moved on to associate with different whales over the years. Will he stay in J-Pod? Who will he latch onto?  The J14s, J16s, and J22s made up the second group, and for today, Onyx was with them. Specifically, he and J38 Cookie were the trailing whales, passing much closer to shore than anybody else. I couldn't believe how much Cookie has grown over the winter!

J38 Cookie

We hopped on the boat to meet up with the whales again near Mitchell Bay. First we hung out with the J16 family group some more, and then dropped back to see who was now traveling with Onyx and Cookie. The answer was J45 Se-Yi'-Chn and J49 T'ilem I'nges, two other young J-Pod whales. 

The boys passing Kellett Bluffs

 This group, who was in a playful mood, is interesting for several reasons. Not only are they all males, but they all lost somebody last year, with the passing of J2 Granny, J14 Samish (mother/grandmother to J45 and J49), and J34 Doublestuf (brother to J38). With their families broken by their losses, are they finding solace in one another? These are the kinds of questions we will never have definitive answers to, but we can hope the answer is yes.

One of several breaches by J49 T'ilem I'nges

After a little while Onyx fell back from the others, and we stuck with him. Unlike many whales when they're traveling on their own, Onyx doesn't always stay in just travel mode. It was the same on this afternoon, when he started doing tail slaps and dorsal fin slaps all by himself. If his story isn't enough to make you like him, his behavior usually is!

L87 Onyx - the whale who breaks all the "rules"

Another shot of Onyx with Spieden Island in the background

As the whales continued on towards Turn Point, we split off to head for home, but not before getting one last look at the J16s who were grouped up offshore.

Our next question about the whales was: after such a long absence, would they find enough fish to stay? Our encounter with them was on May 7th, and on May 8th they were seen by others up north. Presumably they're still up there today, and hopefully finding a lot to eat! Just like in all things, what goes up must come down, so as long as the Js are up north, we've got a chance to see them again on their way back south! After getting such a great "whale fix" to start the season, we're definitely ready for more!

July 13th: Epic Evening With J-Pod

It's taken until July, but it's finally starting to feel like summer in terms of whale sightings! At least part of J-Pod has been around since July 3rd, and whales have been on the west side of San Juan Island on almost a daily basis. On July 10th, most of the rest of J-Pod came in (everyone but the J11s). On the afternoon of July 13th, they were split into roughly their "Group A" and "Group B" groupings, but I headed out to Lime Kiln in hopes of seeing them meet up.

Around 5 PM, J2 Granny's group came rocketing down Haro Strait after making a visit to the Fraser River. It was a quick, mostly unremarkable passby - at least until J45 Se-Yi'-Chn started breaching!

One of a series of breaches by J45 Se-Yi'-Chn

I had hoped the Js would meet up at Lime Kiln, but the reunion ended up happening a few miles south. Several of us waited to see which way they would go, and when they started heading south, we packed up to leave. As we drove past Hannah Heights, however, I had to stop once I saw all the whale watch boats close to shore. Boy, am I glad I did! The whales had just flipped back north, and were traveling close to shore in a large, playful group. We turned around and went right back to Lime Kiln!

It took a while for them to make their way back to Lime Kiln Point State Park, but they made it more than worth the wait. Watching them approach was exhilarating, with the anticipation of what was to come, and the desperate hope that they wouldn't turn around! They didn't.

Many playful whales approaching close to shore = Best feeling ever

There were all kinds of breaches, tail slaps, and cartwheels happening, like this one:

I love seeing the males up close, as it really gives a better perspective of how big they are.

J34 Doublestuf, now nearing full size at 18 years old

I also got a better look at Doublestuf's younger brother, J38 Cookie, who at the age of 13 is most definitely starting to "sprout", aka have the teenage growth spurt in which his fin grows from the shorter fin of the females and juveniles into the tall fin of the adult male. It's amazing how big he's getting!

J38 Cookie

 Basically the J14s, J17s, J19s, and J22s, along with L87 Onyx, were all in one big group. J2 Granny was, characteristically, way ahead on her own, and the J16s were trailing several miles behind. Within the large group, just J17 Princess Angeline with calf J53 and J28 Polaris with calf J54 were a little further offshore. And in this case, "a little further offshore" mean between 100-200 yards, which other days most definitely gets classified as "close"!

The "offshore whales" from left to right: J54, J28, and J17

While of course it's a treat to have the whales pass within a few dozen yards of the shoreline at any point in time, I especially love it when it happens early in the morning or late in the day, during those special times that are the golden hours for a photographer. I just love those backlit blows at sunset!

Of course the lighting can also be pretty crazy, especially when you're shooting right into the setting sun! But I love these shots.

On several occasions recently when multiple J-Pod sub-groups get together, I've noticed there seems to be a Young Boys' Club among the juvenile males from the different matrilines. J47 Notch, at age six, is always right at the center of it, and he surfaced right in front of me for my favorite shot of the night:

A freighter wake was hitting the shoreline right as these boys passed, and it seemed like they were enjoying lunging through the surf.

J49 T'ilem I'nges, who for so long was the baby of J-Pod, is now four years old. This summer it seems like he's being allowed to wander away from mom for the first time, and he's just loving it. Forgive my anthropomorphism, but he seemed thrilled to be able to hang out in the "big kids" group!

Tail slap from J49 T'ilem I'nges

I usually watch whales from directly in front of the Lime Kiln Lighthouse. On this day I was at the south end of the park to watch them approach, which had the added benefit of getting to see (and photograph) them as they passed the lighthouse.

Even though I wasn't on my usual rock, whenever the whales are this close I still have to climb down right to the water's edge, no matter where I am. Special thanks to Jason for capturing these moments of me in my element!

Me with J38 Cookie

The conditions were too perfect not to make a run for the boat and catch up with them again further north. (Note: when we left Lime Kiln, the J16s were still to the south heading south, but they would later follow the rests of Js north too.) When we caught up the large group near Open Bay, they were still in a playful, social mood, and the breaches continued!

After heading right into Open Bay, they continued north right against the shoreline of Henry Island. At times it was hard to even see them against the rocks, and some of their breaches looked precariously close to the rocks, though I'm sure that was just our perspective!

L87 Onyx kelping off Henry Island - almost hard to see his dorsal fin against the rocks!

The whales continued to hug the shoreline as they passed Henry Island

Breach really close to the rocks!

Just north of Kellett Bluffs, some of the whales pulled a little bit further offshore, and we stuck with them while the main group continued close to the island. It was awesome to see L87 Onyx, who is so often out a mile or more away from the rest of the whales, in close and socializing with the others. At this time he was with J34 Doublestuf.

It was great to see the often lonesome L87 Onyx in with the other whales getting some social time

 I'm not sure if I've ever seen Onyx breach before, but he did once on this night, and it was an impressive sight!

Huge breach by L87 Onyx

All too soon it was getting dark and was time for us to leave. We got one last look as the whales continued north into the dimming light near Spieden Island.

It can be easy to overuse words like "epic" when talking about whale encounters. Of course every sighting is memorable in its own way, getting to see these fascinating, gigantic creatures in the wild. But epic - meaning " heroic or grand in scale or character" or "particularly impressive or remarkable" certainly fits for my encounter with J-Pod on the evening of July 13th.

August 11th and 12th: Humpback whale and Lime Kiln Js

On August 11th we went out in the morning hoping to find orcas. We searched the whole west side of San Juan and didn't see any black and whites, but we did find a humpback whale! The first one I've seen since March, though others have been around.

This whale was seen on several consecutive days (I recognized it in other people's photos), and should be identifiable based on its unique tail markings. Unfortunately I don't have a good local humpback whale ID guide, so I'm not sure which whale this is.

On August 12th members of all three pods were heading in from Victoria, and I waited at Lime Kiln hoping they would go north. Most stayed further south, but about half of J-Pod did pass the lighthouse heading north before flipping and going back south to join the others. They were mostly further offshore when they went north - except for L87 Onyx. He surfaced offshore to the south of us, and then when he next came up, it was in the kelp just north of the ligthhouse!

L87 Onyx

When they turned to come back south, however, they all angled in towards shore! The best feeling ever, watching close whales approach.

We got a beautiful look at J2 Granny:

Then we observed an interesting little interaction. J41 Eclipse was traveling with J31 Tsuchi, and Eclipse's calf J51 was wondering all over the place away from mom. He stopped at one point to spook all the sea gulls (well, all except one) off this raft of sea weed, and was playing with the piece of driftwood floating here as well.

J51 was playing with this raft of sea weed - several gulls flew off it, but one stuck his ground

Perhaps mom had enough at this point, however, because Eclipse did one huge breach. (Pretty special to see my favorite whale breaching in my favorite place - and in such spectacular lighting!)

J41 Eclipse breach

The next time the whales surfaced, J51 was right back in mom's slip stream, and didn't stray away the rest of the time they were in sight! Perhaps it was a total coincidence, but it sure seemed like Eclipse was telling her calf enough was enough, it was time to come back to mom.

Finally, the pass ended with a close look at J37 Hy'shqa and her calf J49 T'ilem I'nges. It's funny - J49 was the smallest whale among the Southern Residents for 2 full years, as no other calves were born and survived during that time. As soon as the other J-Pod babies were born, he suddenly looked a lot bigger! I wonder how he adjusted to not being the baby of the group anymore. He is still a little guy though - just 3 years old now.

J49 T'ilem I'nges