June 28th: The Morning Encounters Continue (OBI #14)

Pile Point near False Bay has been our magical spot - on the morning of June 28th it was again where we caught up with the whales, J-Pod Group A and the K12s, K13s, and K14s. We've seen a lot of the K14s this summer - they've been a part of almost every research encounter - and K26 Lobo was the first whale we got a good look at.

K26 Lobo

Lobo's group booked it north, and we hung back with K22 Sekiu and her son K33 Tika who were hanging out and foraging. At one point Tika unexpectedly did a huge dolphin jump - something I've seen transients do before, but never residents! Unfortunately he only did it once and I wasn't ready with the camera.

K33 Tika

Meanwhile offshore was L87 Onyx. He's also been around a lot, but has mostly been off on his own, sometimes a mile or more away from all the other whales. We're keen to get some recordings of his vocalizations, because he's a unique whale: he was in L-Pod, then traveled with K-Pod for several years, and now travels with J-Pod. But on this occasion he was only echolocating. 

L87 Onyx

 As we continued north, we again got a good look at K37 Rainshadow who we had spent a lot of time with the day before.

K37 Rainshadow

Then we caught up with the leaders again, a group made up of the K14s, J2s, and J19s.

J51 right alongside mom J41 Eclipse

Another look at K26 Lobo

Off San Juan County Park they milled around for a while, and the light was amazing for seeing the blows.

Eventually they all grouped up and continued north again:

It was about time for us to head in, but it's so much fun to watch the whales cross Open Bay that we had to hang out a bit longer.

J40 Suttles

As the lead group continued on, K22 and K33 caught up to us again.

K33 Tika trailing some eel grass

Again we started heading for home, but the sight of a line of seven whales cruising towards us made us stop again. It was the K13s all together; it's so cool to see a tight group of whales like this approaching.

The K13s

K25 Scoter on the left and K44 Ripple in the middle

June 27th: K-Pod (OBI #12, 13)

Our streak of amazing mornings on the water continued on June 27th when we met up with the K12s and K13s just north of False Bay. While I love watching whales from shore, one of the interesting things about watching them from a boat is that you can stay with the same animals for extended lengths of time. On shore, by contrast, you're stationary while all the animals go past you - so you see everyone, but just briefly. On this morning in particular, we got to spend a lot of time with K37 Rainshadow and his younger sister K43 Saturna. At first they were quickly traveling north.

K43 Saturna

Then suddenly they stopped to forage, and while we dropped the hydrophone and recorded their echolocation clicks they circled our boat in the early morning light.

K37 Rainshadow arches his back at the surface

A close look at K43 Saturna

Then, as they continued north again at a slower pace, it was apparently play time for a little bit - at least K37 Rainshadow did a series of breaches!

Breach from K37 Rainshadow

Up near Lime Kiln it was decision time - to continue north, or turn back south? They milled around for a while before deciding to continue north, towards J-Pod Group A and the K14s.

A different perspective on watching whales at Lime Kiln

In the afternoon, the Js and Ks had all met up and were making their way back down Haro Strait. I saw them from Lime Kiln.

A big spyhop from K33 Tika

K27 Deadhead and K44 Ripple

J-Pod Group A and the K12s, K13s, and K14s would spend the night off the south end of San Juan Island.....a perfect set up for another morning encounter on June 28th!

June 25th: One of those mornings (OBI#11)

All week Keith had been saying we would go out early on his birthday and have a great whale encounter. I was hoping the stars would align for just that, but didn't necessarily share his confidence that it would happen. I should have trusted him! The morning of June 25th turned out to be one of my best whale encounters of the season.

We picked up members of J-Pod - the J16s -  heading south from False Bay.

They soon led us towards Eagle Point, where we could see other whales offshore in the glassy blue waters.

J41 Eclipse and her son J51

We met up with an interesting grouping made up of J2, the J19s, and the K14s.

K26 Lobo

K26 Lobo

Then the magic happened. It started with two breaches by K26 Lobo.

That got everyone going! And in perfect lighting, too.

K14 Lea

K14 Lea

J19 Shachi

J19 Shachi

K26 Lobo - my favorite shot of the day

K26 Lobo

We saw about 10 breaches in the span of a couple minutes. Truly, there are no words - it was one of those unforgettable experiences. You can see larger versions of these photos (and order prints) at this online gallery.

And the morning wasn't quite over yet. As we let this group go by, we found ourselves with the J14s.

The J14s

I was so swept up by the breaches that I missed this gem of a photo on my first pass through the pictures from the day:

Three generations from left to right: J14 Samish, J37 Hy'shqa, and J49 T'ilem I'nges

On our way home we stopped to check out a peregrine falcon nest, where three chicks are transitions from down to feathers and are exploring the cliffs around their home. It was hard to spot them - they blended in so well with the guano covered ledges!

Peregrine falcon chick - can you spot it?

A bunch of pigeon guillemots, one of my favorite sea birds, nest in the same area too:

A a classic pigeon guillemot crash landing, with splayed bright red feet

It was an epic morning. Happy birthday Keith!

Morning of June 24th: J-Pod Group A and the K14s (OBI #9)

We got even luckier on our second early morning out, coming across J-Pod Group A (The J2s/J14s, J19s, and J16s, plus L87 Onyx) and the K14s right outside of Mitchell Bay at about 7:30 AM on June 24th. The first whale we saw was J26 Mike.

J26 Mike

I love watching whales from shore in the early morning because of the lighting, but once we got out there, turns out the light is pretty amazing from the water side, too.

Backlit blows of the J14s: J14 Samish, J45 Se-Yi'-Chn, and J40 Suttles

J2 Granny: a classic Pacific Northwest scene

This group of whales was just the example I was hypothetically talking about a few days before: with members of all three pods present, but just 20 whales present, is this is a superpod? I don't think so....but of course that doesn't make it any less "super" :)

The K14s

The K14s have been regularly breaking off from the rest of K-Pod and traveling with Js this year. We later learned that most of the rest of K-Pod - the K12s and K13s - had split off and gone back south along the west side of San Juan Island, where they would spend the day doing the so-called "westside shuffle", going back and forth.

K26 Lobo and his sister K36 Yoda with Spieden Island in the background

After just 45 minutes it was very tough to break away, but I had to go to an appointment in town. As we were leaving, we commented how we had seen all the expected whales but not L87 Onyx. As if on cue, we heard a blow offshore behind us. There he was!

L87 Onyx doin' his own thing

Little did we know that our best morning on the water still awaited us!

June 21: Members of All 3 Pods (OBI #7)

The whales have been around on a daily basis (just like the good ol' days!), and that means our research efforts have been on a roll, too. I'm way behind on photos (that is not a complaint!) - I'm just not getting to blog about our 7th research encounter with residents, and today my partner Michael had encounter #15! So let's get right to it.

For the first time of our research season we went out in the early morning hoping to find whales. As would become a trend over the next week, the waters were great, and we headed south on a hunch and found whales near False Bay. On June 21st we found all of J-Pod, all of K-Pod, and the 15 L-Pod whales that have been around (L4s, L47s, and L95) heading north. Over a little over two hours we followed them up to Spieden Channel.

Orca passing Lime Kiln Lighthouse - when I'm not on the boat, that's where I watch whales from, too!

One question I raised is: how do you define a superpod? Many people will call it a superpod when members of all three pods are present, as we had on this day. I used to be likely to call this a superpod, too. But with the whales splitting into so many smaller and varied groups, by that definition, J-Pod Group A, the K14s, and L87 would be a superpod! (I pointed out this potential scenario, not knowing we would have several encounters with that exact group in the near future.) So, I've reverted to the traditional definition of a superpod, which for the Southern Residents means the entire community present. There are still some L-Pod whales that haven't come "in" yet this summer, so we haven't had a chance for a full-fledged superpod just yet. Last year, there was only one day all summer where ALL members of the Southern Resident Community were together.

Anyway, back to this day: at Kellett Bluffs they started to get a bit more active, and we saw some breaches in all different directions:

The "Is this really my life?" shot - likely L82 Kasatka

We got to hang out a bit with J2 Granny, which is always excellent but was especially so because I hadn't seen her in a while. Even she got into the playful spirit, swimming on her back and splashing water with her tail:

Inverted tail slap by J2 Granny, estimated to be over 100 years old

One of the things we're most fascinated by at the Orca Behavior Institute is the social associations among the whales, particularly those from different pods. It's a good time to be studying that, as we get different combinations of whales just about every day we go out! Here's just one example, of J19 Shachi traveling with L82 Kasatka. These whales, while part of the same community, spend most of the year apart. What makes them seek out each other's company on days like this? 

25 year old L82 Kasatka (left) and 36 year-old J19 Shachi

Often we see whales surfacing in synchrony, but on this morning J14 Samish and her daughter J40 Suttles were in absolute perfect unision with one another. You might only think there was one whale here, if not for the two heads visible on the left:

Synchronized breathing between mom J14 Samish and daughter J40 Suttles

Here's an off-angle look at the same pair of whales on another surfacing:

Off Spieden Channel we let the lead group of whales, including the L4s, continue on north:

From left to right: L27 Ophelia, L86 Surprise!, and L116 Finn

On our way back home we encountered several more groups of whales, including these two:

L83 Moonlight and her son L110 Midnight

It was an awesome morning, and as it would turn out, it would be the first of many!