As our 1999 whale watching season draws to a close, we have had some very unique experiences since our last update.
All three pods left the area on 2 October and haven't been seen or heard from since. It's amazing to me that the whales can leave our area, not migrate but stay around the south coast of Vancouver Island, and be totally isolated. There's a lot of water out there.
Splash's (L-67) baby appeared to be doing well except for the fact that we have seen the baby spending more time with Kiska (K-18) than with Splash. Kiska and Splash have been seen travelling together along with the calf. It has been somewhat perplexing, but now we found out that a whale watch boat operator reported that during the summer he witnessed Kiska having what appeared to be a stillborn calf. If this is the case, it is possible that Kiska is helping Splash by feeding the calf milk. Some researchers don't think this is the case. It could be Kiska has strong maternal instincts and never having a calf herself, feels a deep need to nurture.
On 25 September a dead orca was found on Race Rocks. This whale turned out to be Nootka (L-51). This was very bad news not only because we lost another orca who was relatively young (born in 1973) but also for the fact that Nootka had a newborn calf (L-97) approximately six months old. If you remember, calves at that age depend on mother's milk for to eat. Our last days on the water with the orcas was quite stressful wondering how the little calf was fairing. Observations of the calf from the Center for Whale Research reported the calf looked malnourished and not able to keep up with the rest of the pod. They didn't think it would last the day. This event became a media event locally with the Seattle television stations reporting this event. There was talk of taking the calf to rehabilitate but a debate arose on what should we, as observers, do. It turned out observations were all anyone could do.
When we were out there we always happened to be in the right place at the right time. We found the calf every day for about a week. Each time we noticed the calf was keeping up with its family; Nyssa (L-84) its nine year old brother, and Saanich (L-74) its 13 year old uncle. We got a call for the Center for Whale Research, who told us they witnessed L-97 trying to be fed salmon from Nyssa and Saanich!! That was really cool!
We wondered why Kiska (K-18) didn't help out, being a female who was thought to be lactating. Too many questions in the orca world.
As of Saturday, 2 October, little L-97 was still alive but that is the last time the whales were in our area. We won't have an idea of how it's doing until next season when L pod returns.
As for us, we're putting the boats to bed for the winter. Jean and I and the twins are settling in for the winter with the hope of a new home purchase. James is off in Sydney, Canada living on his boat. Clark and Bev are back in Seattle, Erik is back in Seattle doing boat work, Elizabeth is living on Vashon Island, and Natalie is here on Orcas working. We'll update this page if we hear of any other news regarding the orcas over the winter. If not, see you in the Spring.
September 21, 1999
Sorry I missed last week's update, I was up in northern Vancouver Island finally seeing the northern resident killer whales. Natalie and I and four other naturalists went up to Telegraph Cove and Port McNeil and spent two days on the water. On both days we saw the five whales of the A-23 pod and the three whales of W pod (a pod that had been rarely seen until this summer).
The behavior of the whales was a bit different from what we see in this area; the whales rarely got within 100 yards of the boat and showed no interest in the boat or its passengers. Their movements were not easy to follow - they made a number of long dives and often changed direction under water. However, we were able to hear some terrific echo-location clicks and vocalizations as we were often the only boat with the whales. Natalie was excited to see her first transient killer whale, T14. The adult male has been alone this year, without his mother, T13, and it is assumed that she has died. T14 and T13, formerly known as O4 and O5, are two of the most often seen and best known transient whales. In 1976 they were captured, radio tagged and later released. Both whales had scars in the front of their dorsal fins from the bolts used to attach the tags, making them easy to identify. We watched T14 traveling along the south side of Malcolm Island, ignoring the nearby Dall's porpoises and the whales of A-23 pod.
While I was away L67, Splash, had a baby! There were reports of a lone female killer whale "thrashing about" off the south side of San Juan Island early Sunday morning. Later that afternoon the Center for Whale Research was out on the water and identified the female and her hours old calf as they made their way up the west side of San Juan. They headed over to Sentinel Island and eventually met up with K-pod whales. Astrid told me that the calf was seen riding on the back and pectoral fins of the K-pod whales, perhaps as a greeting to the little whale. This event is unusual in a number of ways; calves are rarely born in the summer (the last summer birth was over five years ago) and Splash was alone, not joined by another whale to help with the birth as had been suggested in the past. It also makes us wonder, where was the rest of her family group? The birth was on Sunday and on Monday Splash and baby were still with K-pod, not with the L2's, her family group. Once again, the whales always surprise us. I'll keep you posted on the condition of this young calf, fourteen year old Splash's first baby.
September 9th, 1999
1999 Summer has finally arrived to the San Juans! We've had sun and warm weather for the past week along with lots of whales. As usual this time of year, all three pods are spending a lot of time together. We've been watching families from different pods intermingling and suspect there's been a bit of mating going out there.
We have seen Grace (L-2) and her family quite often. Last week we watched her sons, Orcan (L-39) and six year old Wavewalker (L-88), playing in the water near our boat's stern. It's not unusual for males to "baby-sit" younger siblings or nieces and nephews like this. Grace and her two other kids were about 100 yards away socializing with one another as they moved north up Swanson Channel.
A few days ago we were again with Grace and her family, this time near Kellett Bluff in Haro Strait. A large group of whales, primarily L-pod, was fishing in this area off Henry Island. Suddenly I saw Raggedy (K-40) and her family traveling among Grace's family. This was a bit of a surprise since for years we've watched Raggedy and Everett (J-18) traveling together and speculated on this May/December romance (she's 15 years older than him). To then see her with the 24 year old Orcan was something new. We are all hoping that the 36 years old Raggedy may finally have a calf of her own. In addition to the socializing, what the whales seem most interested in is food. The run of humpy salmon in Haro Strait right now is most likely their prey. The orcas need to eat between 120 - 280 pounds of fish, primarily salmon, everyday. In part for this reason, we have become very concerned about the declining salmon stocks here in the Pacific Northwest.
Fortunately, so has the Federal Government and earlier this year a number of runs of three species were placed on the Endangered Species list. To learn more about salmon and the ESA check out the following web-site: www.salmon.gen.wa.us/ . It has local and national information, links to other sites and advise on things we can all do to help protect salmon. As we've often said on the boat, the health of the whales is dependent upon the health of the salmon and the health of their environment. Making even small changes in our lives to protect the waters is something we can all do to help save the whales.
August 31, 1999
The summer is coming to a close; many of our summer birds have already left the area and fall and winter birds are being seen. As usual the orcas are starting to move out of the area for longer periods of time, although we are still seeing them on about half of our trips. We had great encounters with the whales last Wednesday and Friday. On the 25th we followed part of L-pod up into Canada's Swanson Channel. The whales had been swimming through the kelp, presumably looking for fish. They then headed out in our direction and began playing with one another and our boat.
Orcan, L-39 and his little brother Wavewalker, L-88 came up just a few yards from our stern. Orcan rolled on his side and pushed around his little brother few times while their mother, Grace (L-2) and other siblings played at the surface about 100 yards away from us. They were vocalizing loud enough to be heard even without the hydrophone.
Perhaps the biggest surprise of that day was Oskar, L-1; I was standing at the middle of the boat talking with guests and watching for Oskar and his sister Ino, L-54. I looked down and saw a huge patch of white within a few feet of our hull, I started calling to passengers that Oskar was under us. He slowly came to the surface, rolling slightly to one side, perhaps to take a look at us. After two slow surfacings he moved on leaving us to wonder why he decided to watch us for a change.
Throughout the summer I've been talking with guests and writing here about the concerns that we all have for the whales. Declining fish stocks and pollution are thought to be two of the main reasons for the decline in this resident population. These are not easy issues to understand. I've found a great web-site that provides information that may help, it's , from the Center for Marine Conservation. On this site they have a "virtual petition" to the Clinton administration calling for the re-authorization of the Clean Water Act, oil-spill prevention, free-trade that protects the environment and other measures to ensure healthy oceans. It's vital to the survival of the resident orcas and all other marine species that we all make a committment to the oceans. I encourage you to check out the web-site to learn more and support healthy oceans.
August 25, 1999
At least one thing has been predictable this year, as the summer comes to a close our sightings are becoming more sporadic, but with more days with all 84 whales in the area. This past week we had three days last week without whales and three days with super-pods (all three pods together). The reasons why all the whales get together is unknown although researchers speculate that this may be a time for mating (killer whales appear to mate outside their natal pods) or perhaps a final chance for the pods to intermingle before dispersing farther in their range for food this winter. Whatever the reason, it's truly spectacular to see.
Perhaps the most poignant event was Monday; Ralph Munro was at Lime Kiln State Park delivering a eulogy for J-6, also known as Ralph and named in Munro's honor. (Ralph Munro was instrumental in stopping captures in Washington waters back in 1976.) None of the whales had been seen in three days but remarkable appeared at the park just as the ceremony began. Munro began talking but was quickly interrupted by the breaches of J-pod just off-shore. Tom, owner of Deer Harbor Charters, and his family are certain that it was Spieden, J-8, who breached first. (She is believed to be the sister or mother of Ralph.) Soon all of J-pod joined in, adding their spectacular contribution to the solemn occasion. Munro threw a wreath into the water in memory of Ralph and the other six whales that died over the winter.
Later that day we were treated to some of the most spectacular whale watching we've had all season. All three pods were heading up Swanson Channel, fishing in the kelp beds near shore. About half way up the island a few whales tail-lobbed and the pods changed behavior, lining up abreast and shortly after changing direction and heading south. Quite unexpectedly they headed for East Point and up to the Straits of Georgia.
In Boundary Pass, on their way to East Point, J-pod was heading for us, moving quickly. There were so many whales traveling so quickly that we chose to simply shut off the engines and let them pass. A number of whales went right under the boat, while six others went under the bow, tail-lobbing and rolling over to look up at the boat. As an added surprise, we watched a number of orcas "surf" off the stern of a large container ship. It really was a wonderful day.
It was a day, however, not without sadness. In his speech Munro talked about the threats to these whales due to declining fish stocks, toxins, captures and aggressive boats. It truly is unknown why, exactly, this population is in decline and what can be done. It is what is mysterious in these whales that compels and confounds us; what exactly is happening to this population, are they in trouble and what can we do to help? Did they somehow know that Munro was there in tribute to their pod-mate or was a merely a fortunate coincidence? Local researchers are working to find answers to the first question, but the latter will remain a mystery.
August 18th, 1999
It continues to be a good summer for whales, if not the weather. This may be the coldest, wettest August I can remember, but one of the best for consistent whale sightings. Again this past week we're seen the whales on most of our trips. On the 17th we spent time with the L-12's. This was a bit of a treat as this sub-pod hasn't been seen very often this summer. Spirit, L-22, and her boys were playing on the surface for a few minutes, pushing each other around. I believe Mystery, L-85, was with them. Since the death of his big brother Dylan, L-38, the eight year old male has been most often observed with Spirit and her family. Onyx, L-87, a seven year old male was also with the play group. Pre-adolescent whales will often engage in these play sessions.
On the 11th we saw something I had only heard of, but never seen, orcas playing with or harassing a young Dall's porpoise. It was difficult to see saddle patches, but I believe it was Tanya, L-5 and her sons, Sparky and Flash. This family has reportedly chased porpoise and harbor seals in the past. We watched the whales push the porpoise around on the front of their head. When one whale stopped another would begin. We watched this for about five minutes. Soon the orcas disappeared and the young Dall's porpoise swam away.
The possible reasons for this behavior are many; perhaps it was simply play, not unlike the way whales will push each other around, it may have been an exercise in hunting, it may have been an attempted kill. Accounts of dolphins harassing and even killing porpoises have been documented for years. The orcas are actually just very large dolphins and this may be part of their culture. Once again the orcas remind me that are much as we think we may know about them, there is still so much to learn.
August 11, 1999
We continue to be spoiled by unusually good and consistent sightings of whales. I'm a little surprised that the whales are around almost everyday, especially with the poor sockeye run we're seeing. Early projections forecast one of the largest runs of sockeye in this area in years. Unfortunately, the numbers were much lower. So low that Canadian Fisheries closed the season for sockeye fishing on the Frasier River. This is bad news for both the fishermen and the whales. We hope that the whales are still feeding king and silver salmon. Local fishermen report having caught both species off the south side of San Juan Island. The orcas made a rare trip through San Juan Channel, just outside of Friday Harbor, on Tuesday. After some initial difficulty, we finally realized that we were seeing most of J-pod. Again Tahoma, J-10, and her family, including Everett, were elsewhere. The whales were seen at Yellow Island, just outside Deer Harbor, and were soon near Friday Harbor on San Juan Island. The whales appeared to be traveling, occasionally breaking into a little bit of hunting. What was really odd was the route that they took going south; rather than going around Turn Island, they went into the narrow water passage between San Juan and Turn islands. I don't remember ever seeing them in that area before. Another first for us happened on Sunday. We were with J and K pods on the west side of San Juan Island. We were heading home after spending about an hour with the orcas, I was standing at the back of the boat and saw an adolescent whale surface not far from us. Assuming she had moved off we speeded up and headed home. I was telling a couple of guests about having seen orcas body surf off large freighters, but our boat didn't throw up enough of a wake to interest them. Moments later the young whale was in our wake, body-surfing! I thought it might have just been an accident on her part, but she came up on average once every 30 seconds for the next five minutes. I quickly got all 30 passengers to the back of our boat to watch this surfing whale. We couldn't believe what we were seeing. It just reminds me that the whales always surprise us.
August 4th, 1999
This summer is turning out to be rather unusual as far as weather; we're getting our typical sunny dry August, but we got hit with a big thunder and lightening storm on the 3rd of August. Lightening storms are very rare up here. Seattle, 80 miles to our north, reported power outages all over the city. These storms appear to have no affect on the whales at all, the orcas were seen from land swimming through Haro Strait among the lightening bolts.
The orcas continue to spent most of their time in this area. There is a run of sockeye salmon moving through this area which appears to be the preferred prey of the whales right now. They have been spending a lot of time off the south side of San Juan Island, presumably eating the migrating salmon. All three pods have been spotted the past week. We have been seeing the L-25 sub-pod quite a bit lately. This gives us a chance to see Nootka and her new baby, both of whom appear to be doing fine. We were watching the L-25 on the 3rd of August when we got an unexpected surprise; another pod of orcas, that had been reported ten miles to the north, was quickly moving south and were within half a mile of the L-pod whales. We watched the L's move into a tight group facing the incoming whales and begin tail-lobbing (hitting the water with their tail flukes) and vocalizing loud enough to be heard at the surface.
In the distance, a couple of young orcas breached as the vocalizations between the pods intensified. Suddenly, the L's turned and started heading south again and the whales from the north hurried down to meet them. A large group of whales was headed for our boat, so we shut off the engines and drifted, hoping to get a better glimpse of them. We got more than a glimpse as most of K-pod and much of J-pod swam within 30 feet of our stern! We quickly picked out Kiska and her family, Lummi and family along with Granny and her relatives, almost certain we saw Spieden and her large family. The whales continued to tail-lob as they passed us, often swimming just a few feet under the water enabling us to seeing their entire bodies. Encounters like this are rare and spectacular. This was only our fourth super-pod of the season and such close approaches are not common. Such encounters always leave us awestruck, not just with the sheer beauty of these animals, but that wild animals would allow us such an intimate view of their lives.
July 27th, 1999
We saw our mid-season markers last week, our first Bonaparte gulls returned. Fortunately, we are still seeing the whales almost every trips. Often this time of year our sightings become more sporadic as the whales travel farther in search of salmon. We're anticipating that our sightings will be good the rest of the season as humpy salmon return to the area. Humpies move through this area to their spawning streams every odd numbered year, so we should be seeing them any day.
For the past few weeks we've often seen the whales off the southwest side of San Juan Island. I've heard from local fishermen that a run of king salmon (the favorite of the resident orcas) has been moving through that area. The whales have often been gathering around Salmon Bank, south of San Juan Island, to feed on the salmon brought in with the heavy flood tides.
On Monday we watched some of the J-pod whales fishing this area with the help of a strong flood tide. Granny, the 88 year old matriarch, was the first whale spotted. We later saw her grand-daughter, Samish, and great grand-child, Riptide. Ruffles was seen about a quarter mile out, not an unusual position for him.
The real treat was watching J-16, Slick, and her eight year old son, Mike, playing and vocalizing off the back of our boat. Slick and Mike appeared at first to be fishing but then started to vocalize quite a bit and roll around on each other. The pushing up against each other and rubbing bodies is thought to express affection between a mother and child. We shut down our engine and simply enjoyed watching this rare treat of wild whales at play.
A few days earlier we had the same sort of success with the Dall's porpoises near Stuart Island. A group of four porpoises had surfed off our bow wake for about a minute, but quickly lost interest. Sensing that they weren't up for bow-riding we shut down and watched these lovely little porpoises swimming just a few feet away. It was a great opportunity to watch how effortlessly and quickly these animals move through the water. A nice reminder that the orcas are not the only stunning black and white animals around.
July 20th, 1999
This may prove to be our best July yet! It's been another week in which we've seen the whales everyday. We had a rare treat on Sunday with L-pod. We didn't think we would see the whales at all as they were already in Canada when we left Rosario Resort. But surprisingly, the whales stayed around Monarch Head off Saturna Island for nearly an hour and with a strong flood tide we followed the whales as they passed into the Strait of Georgia.
What was unusual was that all of L-pod appeared to be present. More often than not we will see only parts of L-pod which makes many researchers believe that L-pod in actually three or four separate pods, not one large group. This is the first time this year that I have seen all of L-pod together without J or K pod present. We saw some of the most rapid tail-lobbing we've ever seen and a couple of lovely breaches.
On Monday we saw something I have only seen a few times over the past six years. We were watching K-pod foraging off the south side of San Juan Island. The whales were spread out over a couple of miles and their movements were erratic. Suddenly a small family headed towards us and we got a great up-close look at the whales. Then K-20, Spock, decided he wanted a look at us. Swimming a few yards from the boat, he turned back around and swam parallel to our boat. He took a slow look as he swam from bow to stern, with all of our passengers piled on the right side of the boat, returning his stare.
This encounter was one of the most deliberate observations I've ever seen made by a whale. Our boat may get a quick glance or a brief swim-by, but this was a long time spent next to us. It's impossible to know why Spock found us so intriguing, but I think it may have been the children. Dolphins and whales have often shown an affinity to children and we had nine kids on board with us. Perhaps this 13 year old whale was just as curious about our young passengers as they were about him.
July 14th, 1999
We've been very lucky this past week, we saw whales on every one of our trips! The whales were continuing their usual pattern of being spread out over miles foraging. But we are seeing a bit more socializing and playing among the whales. The whales will sometimes stay in a relative small area, rolling around on each other, intermingling among pods and vocalizing quite a bit. On the 13th the whales were so loud in their vocalizations that we didn't need our hydrophone to hear J-10, Tahoma, and her family chattering next to the boat. Once again Princess Angeline and her kids were close by playing and spyhopping in our direction. I sometimes wonder why this little family seems to enjoy people watching so much!
On a more somber note, last week I attended a lecture about toxin levels in marine mammals. I was shocked to learn about the high levels of chemicals, particularly PCBs, in the orcas and harbor seals of this area. According to Peter Ross, the Canadian scientist working on this issue, toxin levels in resident killer whales is much higher than expected and may be the cause of immune system failures and low reproduction rates.
This information is leading many to believe that our resident population of orcas should be considered endangered, or at least threatened, by the Federal Government. Status as a threatened species was given to the orcas by Canada earlier this year. It's hoped that this increased awareness of the status of the orcas will bring more research and education to this area to better understand what is happening to this ever shrinking population of J,K and L pods. We will continue to stay involved in issues effecting the whales and will share the information with you.
July 7th, 1999
This is proving to be one of our more unusual years for whale sightings. This time of year the three pods are usually on the west side of San Juan working the migrating salmon runs. But this year, J and K have decided to head north into Canada. They have been heading up Swanson Channel and Active Pass about every other day for the past couple of weeks. Usually we watch the whales travel through Boundary Pass then up to the Straits of Georgia, presumably following the salmon up to the Frasier River (where the salmon spawn and die). This year's unusual pattern has us wondering if the salmon are themselves taking a new route north.
The L-25's have been spending time on the south side of San Juan, usually around Salmon Bank. Like the local fishermen, the whales know this is one of the best places in the islands to catch fish!
On the 6th we watched Grace and her four kids fishing in that area. This is an example of another unusual pattern we're seeing this year; an individual family traveling away from the rest of the pod. Earlier this season we often saw Tahoma and her family traveling separate from the rest of J-pod. This separation may be in response to lack of sufficient fish for the whole pod. It does make us wonder, just how far can the whales be separated and still communicate with one another? Is this separation a normal part of orca society that we simply haven't witnessed very often? It reminds us that despite all that we know about these animals, they truly are still a mystery to us.
June 30, 1999
June is proving to be a great month for whale sightings as we saw the orcas on every trip this past week. They are ranging farther than usual for this time of year. They are usually on the west side of San Juan Island, moving up and down the coast hunting migrating salmon. However, twice last week the whales headed north into Swanson Channel, in Canada, and returned to Haro Strait the following day, most likely coming south through Rosario Strait.
J, K and parts of L pods have been seen on our trips. There were
reports of the L-12 sub-pod in the area, but we've only seen them once, when they first arrived nearly two weeks ago. A new baby has been observed with L-55, Nootka. The calf is quite yellow and probably around 6 months old.
We had our year's third super-pod on June 29th. We were on the
southwest side of San Juan Island watching the L-25 sub-pod and K pod intermingling. We were able to shut off the engine and listen to their vocalizations with our hydrophone. We were often surrounded by the whales as they socialized with one another. At one point we heard a very loud, intense call come over the speaker and watched as two whales surfaced right under our bow, the source of the call just a few feet from the microphone!
A little while later we had a unusual treat, Oskar and Ino breaching
right off the stern of the boat, not once but three times! This was followed by a session a people watching by a group of curious young whales within 20 feet of the boat.
As we were leaving, we saw J-pod whales coming in from the east, heading quickly towards the other two pods. Some of the vocalizations, breaches and tail-lobs were probably directed at this incoming group. They probably spent this evening together socializing. It was one of our best days on the water, not only for the rare treat watching the whales at play, but to be able to simply watch and listen to these beautiful animals and have them interact with us was truly wonderful.
June 22, 1999
Finally, the news I've been hoping to share for weeks, K and L pods have returned. Last Wednesday, we were out on the west side, just south of Kellett Bluff watching what we assumed to be J-pod. K and L pods had been heard 250 miles to the north, so we were expecting them late that night or more likely on Thursday. I watched Ruffles and Everett swim by, our two big males in J pod. Then suddenly realized there was a third male whale. With Natalie's help, we confirmed that three males had just past us with two more males and lots of whales heading towards us from the north. It was L-pod! Dozens of whales were heading towards us.
Pretty quickly we started identifying individual whales, which isn't easy when surrounded by over 80 whales! All of the boats were shouting back and forth to each other in excitement and trying to find their favorite whales. That afternoon we definitely saw Mega, Oskar, Canuck, Jelly-Roll (James was thrilled and dancing), Kiska, Grace, and the oldest matriarch, Lummi, who is estimated to be 89 years old this year.
The Center for Whale Research has not been able to confirm any missing whales, but we all saw a new addition; K-31, Sequim's new calf, her third. Dave and Astrid at the Center have already determined that it's a boy (thanks to a nice close look at the baby's underside).
After their brief appearance, L-pod headed back out to the ocean, but J and K pods were seen consistently. Twice this week they were in Rosario Strait, presumably looking for salmon runs. Monday they were seen not far from Anacortes, "breaching like crazy" in some of the most spectacular activity we've seen all season.
June 16, 1999
I was hoping to be writing about the return of K and L pods by now, but not quite yet. They were heard by Paul Spong in Johnstone Strait (near the northern end of Vancouver Island) on Monday evening, so they should be back here within the next few days. This is the about two weeks later than the whales' normal return (historically around Memorial Day). Local researchers aren't overly concerned, they believe as the salmon return so will the whales. I'll let you know next week.
We have been spending a lot of time with J-pod the past week. They have been on the west side of San Juan most days, but twice last week we saw the whales in Rosario Strait, off the east side of Orcas.
Our trip on Sunday had a pleasant surprise, off of Lopez two young gray whales. We saw them a couple of weeks ago, and were happy to see them still feeding in the area. Both are immature whales, the smaller one is probably a year and a half old, while the larger one may be three years old.
A possible third whale has also been seen in the same area. It's not unheard of for gray whales to come into San Juan waters on their migration north to feed, then continue their journey. But these whales may decide to spend the summer. For the past few years, about a dozen gray whales have been spending their summers feeding in the waters off Whidbey Island, to our south. We'll keep watching our young visitors.
June 7th, 1999
This season continues to be a bit unusual; still no sign of K and L pods and J pod hasn't been in quite as much as usual. Our records indicate that K and L pods have regularly returned around Memorial Day weekend, so they are a bit late this year. The lack of migrating salmon is probably the cause. The low numbers most likely due to the unusually cold winter and spring; there hasn't been enough snow melting necessary for preparing streams for spawning salmon. In turn, fewer salmon appear to be coming through and therefore fewer orcas. We'll let you know as soon as we see the other two pods.
We have also seen unusual behavior within J pod; J-10, Tahoma, and her family have been seen traveling away from the rest of J pod. About two weeks ago we first noticed the the J-10 sub-pod was going east off the south end of San Juan Island, while the rest of the pod was going west. Since then, this family of five, including 21 year-old male Everett, has been observed miles from the rest of the group. On Saturday, we saw the whole pod together again, but by Sunday they had separated again. Again, the lack of food may be causing the group to change behavior in order to better search for fish.
Our trip last Sunday had a little surprise, a small hybrid Dall's/harbor porpoise. There is now scientific evidence that harbor porpoise males are breeding with their cousins, the Dall's porpoises females. This mating behavior is seen when a population is in decline, as is the case with the local harbor porpoises. The hybrid we saw was very striking, with a dark grey dorsal fin, light grey back and dark grey flank. This coloring has been seen in about half the hybrids observed by scientists. Local researchers are watching to see if these hybrids can reproduce and, in effect, bring about a new species in this area.
May 27th, 1999
Our killer whale sightings remain consistent, the whales have been seen most days last week in Haro Strait. So far we have seen only J-pod in the area. Again this year J17, Princess Angeline, and her kids are watching people. They approached our boat and we watched as six year old Polaris swam right under our bow. If you saw J17's baby with us last year, you'll be happy to know that the young calf looks a bit small, but healthy.
We heard that there were killer whales in the Strait of Juan de Fuca heading towards the islands. A friend on the Sea Shepherd vessel described it as "bunches of whales all around us!" We assume that these orcas were probably L-pod coming in for the first time this season. Unfortunately, they turned west before Victoria, B.C. so we didn't get to see them on Sunday. Maybe later this week.
We did get a surprise on Sunday afternoon, not whales, but a new Dall's porpoise/harbor porpoise hybrid. A couple of years ago scientists discovered that the smaller, grey/brown harbor porpoise is mating with the more numerous Dall's porpoises in this area. This is the first sighting of this animal by our staff. It was unusually large (about 6 feet) and had a white back and black flank. Our passengers were busy taking pictures, hopefully they'll send copies we can pass on the local researchers and post here.
May 18, 1999
This week's update will be different because of the events here in Washington over the past few days. Yesterday, for the first time in over 70 years, the Makah Indians killed a gray whale off the Washington coast. It was difficult to watch the killing, being shown live on the Seattle news. Just before 7:00am the Makah harpooned a young whale that swam just beneath the bow of their canoe. Moments later a shot was fired from a .50 caliber gun in their support boat.
The whale thrashed in pain as blood flowed into the water. Another shot and two harpoons later and the whale was dead, ten minutes after the first strike. (The gun was used to kill the whale more quickly, traditional harpooning could have taken hours and caused a slow painful death to the whale.)
The Makah towed the carcass back to a beach at their reservation. To the shock of journalists, the mood was celebratory with members of the tribe jumping on the whale as though it were a trampoline. This was not the solemn reverence the Makah had promised to show for this animal. Federal support of this hunt was obvious. Coast Guard ships patrolled the area and days earlier had confiscated three boats owned by protest groups and arrested a number of volunteer protesters. Ironically, protesters were in trouble for getting too close to the whales, in a Federal Marine Sanctuary, while trying to get between the whales and the harpoons of the Makahs.
NOAA scientists were also on the scene. They estimate that the whale was a three year old female, about 30 tons and 32 feet long migrating north to northern Alaska.
Local and international conservation groups are deeply saddened and frustrated by these events. People are urged to write to Congressmen and the president to reverse the government's support of this hunt. If you need help finding addressed go to the following websites: www.hsus.org/forms/searchreps.html or www.popularis.com.
Despite what is being said by the media, this hunt was not sanctioned by the International Whaling Commission. The annual IWC meeting is taking place in Grenada right now and it's hoped that they will condemn this hunt. Showing opposition to this hunt is critical right now. For more information on this issue check out: www.seashepherd.org. This organization has been on the water protesting the hunt since it began last fall.
Back in the islands, the orcas are being seen nearly everyday, usually spread out over a few miles, looking for fish. So far only J pod is in the area, but K and L pods should be arriving within the next two weeks. The stellar sea lions are leaving the area, presumably heading back to their pupping rockeries. Eagles are at their nests throughout the island getting ready for this year's eaglets. Another season of births begins... let's all hope that this is not the season of whaling's renewal. Thank you for your support.
May 11, 1999
It's been a busy week for us at Deer Harbor Charters; trips with the whales most of the past week and the wedding of our friend, and one-time captain, Mike Herko. If you were with us in the 1996 or 1997 season, you may remember Mike as the captain of Cetacea. He and his long-time girlfriend, Michelle, got married last Saturday. Our best wishes to them both.
I'm happy to report that J-pod has returned. The whales have been seen everyday for the past week. As usual, they are spending most of their time in Haro Strait chasing the spring salmon runs. They surprised us on Saturday swimming up San Juan Channel. They were seen from the Friday Harbor ferry terminal around noon, then headed north past Flattop Island and towards the Strait of Georgia during our afternoon trip.
As is typical for this time of year, the whales have been seen spread out over a wide area, presumably looking for food. We saw most of the whales on Saturday and Sunday and still have not seen J6, Ralph or J20, Ewok. However, J18, Everett, has been seen with a young whale who could be Ewok's four year old daughter, Rhapsody, traveling with her uncle Everett. Males have been known to "baby-sit" their younger siblings. We have seen this behavior for years with Dylan and his little brother Mystery, who was orphaned at three years old and is now a healthy six year old.
One of the most unusual sights I've ever seen happened on Sunday; we were with J-pod and could actually see Dall's porpoises underwater surfing off the wake of J18, Everett. I've seen this from a distance, but it was spectacular to see the speed and agility of the porpoises so close to the boat.
On a less joyful note, the Makah Indians have resumed their hunt of a gray whale. They were out in canoes and power boats on Monday trying to strike one of the migrating whales in Neah Bay. Luckily they missed each time they shot, but they vow to keep trying. It's believed that the Makah are trying to kill a whale before the next meeting of the International Whaling Commission, scheduled for later this month. Letters of protest to Congress and the President are encouraged to try to halt this hunt, which many feel is illegal and a violation of international law. I'll keep you posted as events unfold.
April 22, 1999
Welcome back to our weekly update page.
We're just starting our season on the water and we're seeing some great wildlife. As usual in the spring, the stellar sea lions are in the area. Two weeks ago we saw over thirty sea lions hauled out on Speiden Island, with at least 15 animals in the water nearby. These huge animals, males reach over 2,000 pounds, are seen in the area throughout the winter and spring.
By the middle of May they will be gone, leaving for their mating rookeries. Once there, the males will fight one another for a harem of females. While here the males get along well, although we have seen a few mock fights. Must be young sea lions practicing. We've also been seeing quite a bit of eagle activity. Within the next week or two, the eggs should be laid with chicks hatching about a month later. We'll be watching for fledging chicks by August. We were all surprised to find a young gray whale in East Sound, near the oyster farm. The shallow bay is perfect habitat for the bottom feeding gray whale. Unlike many other large baleen whales which feed on krill and plankton, grays feed on fish larvae, worms and invertebrates in the mud at the bottom of the ocean.
The young whale and larger companion, perhaps its mother, have not been seen around Orcas since last Wednesday and it is assumed that a siting of two whales off the south end of San Juan were the East Sound whales heading back out the the ocean to finish their migration north. There have been a large number of gray whale strandings along the Pacific Coast and here in the greater Puget Sound area.
Researchers don't believe the number is alarming. Instead, it suggests that the population of gray whales is higher than it has been in years and the deaths are a natural occurrence in expanding populations. Current estimates place the gray whale population between 23,000 and 26,000. Finally, the orcas are back.
J-pod has been seen a number of times off the west side of San Juan in Haro Strait foraging. A definitive count has not been made, although there appear to be no winter babies with the pod at this time. Sadly, two newborn whales washed up on-shore, one just south of us and one on Vancouver Island. It's assumed that at least one of these babies was from J-pod. Additionally, J-11, Blossom, was seen by Canadian researchers with a still-born calf.
This news saddens all of us who care about the whales, and renews our commitment to learning more about what is affecting this population. A combination of dwindling food supplies, pollution and harassment may be causing the decline. These are not easy issues to understand or change, but throughout the summer I plan to bring you more information on these complex problems and some of the measures being taken to learn more and ultimately help this population of orcas thrive.
December 26, 1998
Happy Holidays!
Hope everyone is enjoying the season. The weather in the islands has been unusually cold and we even had some snow. No white Christmas, but close.
As usual, the orcas have moved out of the area. They were last seen in southern Puget Sound in November. However, the San Juans host an interesting variety of winter residents; stellar sea lions and elephants seals are back in the area. They should be around until the spring.
Our winter birds, swans, mergansers, buffleheads, scoters and harlequin ducks, among others, are being seen regularly. If you can stand the cold, winter is a great time to be birding in the San Juans. Watch the skies for migrating birds of prey as well.
Our staff is staying busy. Tom, James and Clark are living and working on their boats. Natalie is busy with her house in Deer Harbor. Jennifer is moving to California after a few months in New York City. I spent October in Argentina and Brazil and am preparing to spend a couple of months in Florida working with dolphins and manatees.
As promised, I've scanned in a few photos from Argentina. The trip was wonderful. I spent 10 days in Patagonia watching right whales, many of whom, like the large female in the photo, seem to enjoy "sailing." This photo was taken at Puerto Piramedes, the most accessible calfing bay. The bay is surrounded by buff colored cliffs and dunes from which I could easily watch the mothers and young calves. One night I hiked up a cliff and listened to the whales breathing and "singing." Between their long, deep breathes, I would hear low-pitched melodic tones that sounded very much like a cello note being played slowly. I later asked local scientists, but no one could definitively explain these late night intonations. My favorite suggestion was that mothers sing to call and calm their calves. Listening to this whale "lullaby" was one of the great moments of my trip.
A week later I had a very different whale experience at Caleta Valdez, on the east side of the Valdez Peninsula. I had heard that orcas were in the area, starting to feed on young elephant seals and southern sea lions. The orcas in Argentina are famous for "body surfing" onto the beach and grabbing pups. Nine orcas moved into the Caleta Valdez area at high tide and practised their unusual hunting technique. I watched them cruise up and down the rookery area for about half and hour, often coming within a few meters of the beach. The photo shows one of the orcas less than 100 feet from resting female elephants seals.
Before leaving Patagonia, I headed down to Punta Tomba to see Magallanic penguins. Over half a million penguins nest in this area, about 150 miles south of Puerto Piramedes. The birds seemed quite unaffected by the attention of humans. The two penguins simply ignored me as they waddled past my feet and made this terrific 
picture. In October, I saw many birds with eggs. These eggs have since produced chicks which are now almost two months old. This enormous penguin colony will stay at Punta Tomba until March and return again next October. Argentina was a terrific experience. It was a very safe country to travel in, filled amazing wildlife and friendly people. I'm looking forward to going south again within the next few years. But don't worry, I'm still planning to be on the water with "our" orcas this summer. So watch this site for next season's "Notes from the Field."
Best wishes for a joyous 1999 from all of us at Deer Harbor Charters.
Take care and be well, Elizabeth
September 30th, 1998
It has been a beautiful September in the San Juan Islands, a lot of clear sunny days and warm weather. Surprizingly, the orcas are still around, although much less consistently then earlier this sesaon. All three pods were in the area at least four days this past week. They appear to be continuing to feed on incoming salmon off the south and west sides of San Juan Island. The Center for Whale Research reports that all of the whales look healthy, including the two babies, J34 and J35.
I had a rare treat on Wednesday; flying to Port Angeles I saw the whales from 2500 feet above them! I was on my way to a meeting regarding the Makah gray whale hunt, which is to start within the next few days, despite the opposition of many environmental groups and members of the tribe itself. Even from this height it was impossible not to marvel at their size and grace. I felt very fortunate.
This will be my last update for the season. I hope everyone has enjoyed keeping up with the whales and other wildlife of the San Juans. Many of us, like the whales, will be leaving this area for the winter. I'll be heading south soon to study right whales, so watch for updates to this site again next April. Thank you for your continued interest and have a great winter.
September 22, 1998
It's been a surprisingly good week on the water for orca sightings. Although they aren't being seen everyday, when they are around all three pods have been traveling together. This is probably due to a run a silver salmon is still coming through the area. The whales have been spending most of their time off the south end of San Juan and Lopez Islands in the path of the migrating salmon.
It is thought by some researchers that this time of year is a valuable social time for the local community of whales. This will most likely be the last time that all three pods are together in this area before dispersing throughout their range looking for food this winter. It's not known exactly how far the whales will travel, but based on winter sightings, it's thought that they go no more than 350 miles from the San Juan Islands.
At this time the whales are spending a lot of time socially interacting with one another, including young calves from different pods playing together and males and females "coupling up." We are all hoping that this produces babies for the summer season in 2000. We have also been hearing the whales more consistently than any other time this summer. A tremendous amount of vocalizing is going on, often it can be heard above the water without the hydrophone! Of course we have no idea what the whales may be "saying" but the intensity and frequency is not uncommon when all three pods are together.
Some of the islands' autumn residents are returning; stellar sea lions are being sighted near Lopez Island, I saw my first surf scoters (small duck-like bird) last week, loons and harlequin ducks are being seen as well. Another pair of humpback whales was reported near Victoria, B.C. The weather is beautiful, so we'll continue to be out on the water for at least a few more weeks.
September 15, 1998
We've had a great week of whale-watching. The orcas have been keeping to a regular schedule of fishing off the south end of San Juan Island everyday since last Wednesday. We suspect that a run of salmon must be coming in as they are staying near the entrance to the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Surprisingly, all three pods have been down there, usually spread out over several miles, fishing in small sub-pods. Seeing them with such consistency is an unexpected treat for this late in the season.
The orcas have been very busy fishing, but we have had a few interesting close encounters. On Sunday, a family came out with us who had adopted Ralph, J6, through the Whale Museum's Orca Adoption Program. They were hoping to catch a glimpse of their whale and his family. Ralph did better than that - he actually swam within thirty feet of our starboard bow for about three minutes, allowing everyone on board, including his adoptive family, to get a get picture of him.
If you would like more information on how the you can adopt one of the resident orcas, please call 1-800-946-7227 or check out the Whale Museum on-line at www.whale-museum.org/adopt.html. All money raised helps support the Whale Museum in Friday Harbor, a non-profit museum started 19 years which does educational outreach programs and supports research of the whales and other marine mammals of the San Juans.
September 8th, 1998
It was a very good week on the water for whale sightings; we saw the orcas on most of our trips. Almost all of our sightings involved more than one pod traveling together. It's thought by local researchers that the pods spend more time socializing and mating with one another late in the summer. Our only sighting of just one pod was on Sept. 4th, the L-25 subpod was in Boundary Pass moving quickly up the Strait of Georgia. Of all the sub-pods, this group is most rarely seen. Although they became quite well-known last fall as they spent a month eating chum salmon at Dyes Inlet, about 20 miles from Seattle. It will be interesting to see if they return to that area again this year.
On August 30th, L-12, L-1 and K pods surprised us by heading up San Juan Channel and turning north of Lopez Island. This is not an area in which the whales usually travel. We suspected that they would head east to Rosario Strait, but reportedly they went right back out the channel.
On September 3rd, L-12's and K's were going north up Rosario Strait. Their movements were extremely erratic, moving east and west through the area, probably looking for fish. As we were leaving, they were turning south to leave the area. The whales are well spread out, but not much actual fishing was observed.
On September 5th we had a memorable encounter with L-12 and J pods. The whales were moving south from Lime Kiln State Park, when they reached Cattle Pass they all turned and headed north again. (This pattern of movement was observed almost daily earlier in the summer.) We were one of the last boats with the whales that day so we shut off our engines and watched a few young whales playing together nearby. What was truly remarkable was being approached by L-41, Leo; he came within 10 feet of our bow and very slowly made two shallow dives and then laid on the surface of the water next to the boat. I believe every passenger got a great picture and even felt the spray from his blow. This was an extremely rare, but wonderful treat.
Tuesday, Sept. 1, 1998
It's late in the season but we're still seeing the whales, particularly L-pod. On August 24th, we watched the L-12 and L-1 subpods resting off the southeast tip of San Juan Island. L-1, Oskar and his sister L-54, Ino, are still traveling with the L-12 sub-pod. The following day we had a rare sight, a super-pod in Rosario Strait, off the east side of Orcas island. As is typical when all three pods get together, there was a lot of activity, breaching, spy-hopping and tail-lobbing were observed.
Another unusual occurrance on Sunday, August 30th; L and K pods headed up San Juan Channel, between Lopez and San Juan Islands. The whales, particularly L-pod, will travel in San Juan Channel a few times each summer. What made this so unusual was that the whales headed up Upright Channel and towards another group of whales spotted at Obstruction Pass, off the southeast end of Orcas Island. A local hatchery reported that the whales "poked their noses" into Eastsound much farther than usual. The orcas have never been observed in Eastsound, the body of water running up the middle of horseshoe shaped Orcas Island. There was even speculation that the whales may have been interested in the hatcheries returning king and coho salmon runs.
The poor runs of salmon usually seen in Haro Strait may be causing the whales to expand their search for food. It's a possible explanation for some of the unusual places we've been seeing the whales the past few summers. An orca must eat up to 300 lbs of food each day. If the salmon disappear in this area, so might we lose the whales. It's the hope of all of us that as the king salmon move closer to being listed as as endangered species, that plans are put in place to save the salmon and ensure the future of the local orcas.
Tuesday, August 25th, 1998
Summer is coming to a close: we're watching many of our summer birds change plummage or leave the area. Fall residents, loons, marbled murrelets and red-necked phalaropes are being seen more commonly. We may start seeing our fall influx of sea lions soon.
Our whales sightings continue to be quite good. We've been watching some interesting social behavior in L-pod, the largest pod at 49 whales. L1 (Oksar) and L54 (Ino) lost their mother, L35 (Victoria), last year and have been seen traveling with various sub-pods of L this summer. The three whales of the L35 sub-pod were often seen away from the rest of the pod, but since their mother's death L1 and L54 have usually been seen in the company of other pod members. On Monday, August 24th, we watched them resting with the 15 whales of the L12 (Alexis) sub-pod. Earlier in the summer, the two were seen with the L25 sub-pod.
We had a rare sighting on Sunday, August 23rd, transient killer whales were in the area. T3, T6 and T11, a mother and her children were traveling down the west side of San Juan Island heading out the Strait of Juan de Fuca to the ocean. Transients are very different from the resident whales, J,K and L pods. Transient pods are much smaller, usually only 3-4 whales per pod, they feed primarily on marine mammals (in this area they eat harbor seals and Dall's porpoises) and their range is unknown. Transients represent a different community or culture of killer whales and there is evidence that the residents and transients don't mate with one another and may not even be able to communicate with each other because of differences in dialects.
Our sighting was fairly typical for transients, a few surfacings then down for a few minutes. I did get to see my first transient whale spy-hop (the male lifted his face out of the water to look around, twice). We had to leave, but a little while later the whales began hunting. A colleague reported seeing them circle and eat a Dall's porpoise and soon after a harbor seal was attacked and eaten.
We also had a very unusual encounter with minke whales. Generally, minke whales travel alone while in the area feeding, but just north of Friday Harbor we watched two minke whales swimming and playing together. At one point, both whales came out of the water in a half breach. All whales are extremely tactile animals and will rub against each other in social and play situations, but this is the first time we've seen minke whales exhibit this behavior.
Tuesday, August 18th, 1998
An exceptionally good week: we saw whales, either orcas or minkes or both, on all of our trips. The number orca sightings in August has been unusually high this year. J and K pods have been spending quite a bit of time travelling together including a day in Rosario Strait, off the east side of Orcas Island. There was a tremendous amount of activity, some of the best seen all summer.
A sub-group of L-pod travelled past Friday Harbor on San Juan Island on the 14th. The orcas swim through San Juan Channel at least 3 to 4 times every year and attract a lot of attention as they pass just outside the port of Friday Harbor. The whales were fairly well spread out, but grouped up and played together a bit as they neared Jones Island.
We had a rare treat on Monday; a young mother, Spirit and her two sons, Skana and Solstice, surfaced near the stern of our boat and played within ten feet of us. The nine year old Skana even rolled over showing off his belly and then his back. It's quite unusual to see the top of a whale, but we did. Skana rolled his back towards us and we were able to see both the left and right side views of his saddle patch!
Our encounters with the Dall's porpoises have been great fun. They have been actively bow-riding our boat. We've also had a few minke whale sightings. Particularly interesting is a sub-adult minke with noticeable scars on its back. This whale often surfaces very close to our boat and a few weeks ago even rolled on its side and swam next to us! I'm hoping to get photos from our guests to add to the minke identification catalog.
August 11, 1998
We continue to see whales on almost every trip, either minke whales or the orcas. Typically in August sightings of the orcas goes down as the runs of king salmon come to a close.
On Saturday, August 7th, we watched and listened to parts of K-pod off False Bay on San Juan Island. It was some of the best vocalizing we had heard all summer. We speculated that they were communicating with the L-pod whales a few miles away, which were heading in from Victoria. In the afternoon all three pods were together on the west side of San Juan. J and K pods headed north into Canada, while L-pod went back down the west side of San Juan. The following day, J and K pods were in the Strait of Georgia heading back into our area.
We had a surprise visitor on Friday, August 7th; a young humpback whale was sighted on the northwest side of San Juan Island! Almost every year for the past seven years, a humpback whale has been seen in this area, usually for not more than a day. Humpback whales were once common in this area, which they used as a summer feeding ground. However, local whalers killed off the population by the early 1900's. It's hoped that the humpbacks will eventually begin using the Puget Sound as a summer feeding ground again.
The humpback we saw on Friday was relatively small, only about 25 feet long, therefore probably quite young. In the morning it was travelling with a minke whale around Henry Island. By the afternoon it had moved north to Johns Island. By Saturday it had disappeared. Where this whale came from and where it went are a mystery.
August 5, 1998
Looks like the end of summer is near, we're seeing Bonaparte gulls already in the area. Fortunately, we're still seeing whales pretty consistently. On Saturday, August 1, we saw all of L-pod on the southwest side of San Juan. This is one of the few times the entire pod has been seen without J and K pods. Local researchers believe that L-pod, which numbers 49 whales, may actually be three different pods, the L25's, L12's and L35's, each sub-pod named after its oldest female member. We usually see only one sub-pod when we see L-pod whales, so seeing everyone together was quite a treat.
Later that same day we watched J and K pods head south down Rosario Strait. The three groups may have gotten together that evening headed west. On Sunday the orcas were not in this area. However, we had a spectacular encounter with a minke whale.
Minke whales are small baleen whales that move into this area in the summer to feed on small schooling fish. They usually travel alone and can be very difficult to spot. But the minke we encountered made it impossible to miss her, as she surfaced within 20 feet of our boat. At one point she surfaced next to our boat, rolled on her side with her belly to us, and very slowly swam past our bow! None of us had ever seen a minke whale so close. It reminded me of "friendly" grey whales that will approach boats in their Mexican calving lagoons.
We'll be watching for this whale again in Griffin Bay. She's easy to recognize; she has a noticeable scar just in front of her dorsal fin, perhaps from an accident with a boat propeller.
Earlier on Sunday we watched the young eagle from the Bell Island nest flying. The eaglet is probably around 11 weeks old and hasn't quite mastered landing, or flying, but appears to be doing well.
July 28th, 1998
It finally feels like summer in the San Juans, we've been enjoying lots of sunshine and warm temperatures. The wildlife has also been quite nice.
We continue to see the orcas regularly, primarily J and K pods. On Monday we set a new distance record, travelling into Canada to Mayne Island, it took over 2 hours to get there, to watch J and K pod as they headed for Active Pass.
We didn't have to travel nearly as far to witness a super-pod on Wednesday. There has been an unusually high number of occasions when all three pods have joined up this summer. One theory is that the whales are getting together for mating. There's been a low birth rate the last few years among the resident orcas, so we're all hoping to see more calves two summers from now!
In addition to the orcas, we've been seeing many young animals in the area including lots a newly weaned baby harbor seals, young eaglets just beginning to fly, and a minke whale calf. Minke whales are solitary, small balleen whales that spend their summer here feeding on small schooling fish. On Sunday, one of our passengers noticed the baby near Spieden Island. We watched the baby and mother feed in the area for about half an hour. This is only the second minke whale calf I've seen in this area. Passengers became amatuer biologists taking photos which will be forwarded to local researchers to be added to their minke whale catalog.
July 21, 1998
We continue to have a very high success rate in finding whales. This time of year our sightings usually start to drop, so we've been very lucky. We watched J and K pod travelling together on two occasions last week. On Saturday, July 18th we watched a super-pod come together on the west side on San Juan Island. The forty whales of J and K pods were travelling north through Haro Strait. L-pod made their way into the area, heading northwest from Victoria, B.C. in Canada. J and K pod turned south to meet them and all three pods intermingled in front of the Whale Watch Park at Lime Kiln Lighthouse. It appears that two K-pod females are attracting the attention of L and J pod males. We're all hoping that this will result in calves born into K-pod next winter.
We were fortunate to get an up-close look at Lummi last week. Local researchers believe she is well into her eighties. She has been seen travelling alone on a number occasions since the death of her son, Taku, last winter. We also saw the J-pod babies, both look healthy and are growing.
July 14, 1998
Our sightings of orcas remain high, as we saw them on most of our trips last week. The whales were often spread out over miles foraging for fish, as is typical this time of year. But, we were fortunate to watch them socializing on two occasions, last Tuesday and Saturday.
Tuesday, July 7th, the whales surprised us by their location, off the north side of the Cactus Islands. The whales were engaged in a lot of social behavior and males and females from different pods were seen travelling together, perhaps some mating behavior. We were surprised to watch them go through the kelp bed between the Cactus Islands and head to the northwest side of Spieden. In five years, I've never seen the whales go between the Cactus Islands, a narrow, shallow channel with an abundance of bull kelp. Orcas are often seen fishing and playing in kelp beds, it's thought the blades of kelp feel good to the whales as they will sometimes surface with it around their tail and dorsal fin. This route may have been deliberate play activity.
The whales have been vocalizing quite a bit lately. It's known that each pod has its own signature calls and common calls that are shared among the pods. But what the calls mean is a mystery to scientists. J and K pod were particularly vocal last Saturday during an exceptionally active and up-close encounter. The whales could be heard on the surface without our hydrophone, which rarely happens. We shut down our engines a number of times and had the whales swim under and next to the boat. Ruffles, J1, even did a huge dorsal fin slap right off of our bow. It was quite spectacular, and loud! The whales made many close approaches, often swimming on their sides, seemingly to see us. We don't understand why, on some occasions, the whales choose to "people watch" but we truly enjoyed it last Saturday.
July 7th, 1998
Another good week with the whales; we saw them on most of our trips. We had a very lovely encounter with the whales in the fog last Tuesday. We were off the south part of San Juan as the fog rolled in, just enough to blur the line between the water and air. We were the only boat out there and were able to watch Ralph, J6, chasing fish with incredible speed off the bow of our boat. Princess Angeline, J17, and her calves surprised us with a close approach. It was great fun to watch this family of whales "people watch."
The whales travelled past Roche Harbor and Friday Harbor, both on San Juan Island, on the Fourth of July. A group of the L12 sub-pod swam past the marina in Friday Harbor, heading south, while the rest of L-pod, along with J and K pods, travelled north to Stuart Island. The northern group initially appeared to be resting, in a slow synchronized swimming pattern, but soon awoke and began tail-lobbing and breaching. Tail-lobbing, smacking the water with their tail, is thought to be part of communication. The whales may have been "talking" about what to do next, after their collective nap.
Off the water, Tom, his family, and I attended a meeting in Seattle about the planned resumption of whaling by some members on the Makah Indian Tribe. The first hunt in over 70 years is planned for this October in the Olympic Coast Marine Sanctuary off the coast of Washington state. Claiming indigenous cultural rights, whalers have been given permission to kill 20 whales over the next five years using 50 caliber anti-tank machine guns.
This has many of us concerned for a variety of reasons; the U.S. government supports the whaling, making it the first time in decades that the U.S. has taken a pro-whaling stance. There is no evidence that this will be a subsistence hunt, other food sources are easily available. Some tribal members claim that the hunt is an important part of the Makah heritage and tradition, yet they are planning to use modern weapons and boats. Elder members within the tribe continue to voice opposition, siting no need for the hunt. They and their families have become targets of ridicule and threats. This is the only population of gray whales left in the world. Whaled to exinction on the Atlantic Coast and off the coast of Asia, gray whales number only 21,000 and all live off the west coast of North America.
The best way to prevent this hunt seems to be getting involved by writing letters and bringing attention to this cause. Please consider one or more of the following:
Write a polite letter to Ben Johnson, Jr., Chairman, Makah Tribal Council, P.O. Box 115 Neah Bay, WA 98357, (360) 645-3230.
Write letters to your federal Senators and Representatives urging them to support Jack Metcalf's resolution opposing the hunt. Also write to the President at: The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, NW, Washington, D.C. 20500 and the Vice President at: Office of the Vice President, Old Executive Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20501
For more information on-line check out: www.paws.org/activists/whales or write to: awillow@earthlink.net, subject Makah Inquiry.
Thanks for your support.
June 30th, 1998
Another great week on the water; we had three trips with super-pods. A super-pod occurs when all three resident pods, J,K and L, get together. The purpose of a super-pod is unknown, it may be to socialize or mate or forage together. Whatever the reason, it's a spectacular sight to see 80 to 90 whales travelling together.
Last Tuesday, June 23rd, was one of the most exciting encounters we've ever had with the whales. All three pods were on the west side of San Juan Island socializing with one another with a tremendous amount of activity. The whales were spy-hopping, tail-lobbing, and jumping out of the water for the entire hour and a half that we spent with them. At one point, we turned off our engines and a large sub-pod (family group) swam right next to us. Without warning, two males breached so close that most of us at the back of the boat got wet. A bit cold, but great fun!
As is typical this time of year the whales are occasionally moving out of this immediate area, up into Canadian waters and out the Strait of Juan de Fuca, looking for fish to eat. However, our success rate is still very high.
We also saw our first eagle chicks on two different nests. Both chicks already have their dark brown flight feathers. Eagles don't get their white head and tail feathers until they're at least three years old. Both chicks appeared to be around 7 weeks old and both should be flying for the first time within a month.
June 23rd, 1998
It's been another great week on the water, we saw the orcas on every trip!
The whales have been very active during our encounters with them, usually a lot of tail-lobbing (striking the water with their tail flukes) and breaching (jumping out of the water). We saw all three pods last week. They were usually spread out over a mile and travelling in their family groups. These behaviors suggest that the whales are spending much of their time fishing, which is typical this time of year as salmon move through the area to their spawning streams.
We were very fortunate to watch a young calf nursing last Friday. An L-pod female (may have been Rascal) swam next to our boat, laying on her side, with her calf swimming next to her nursing. I hope to get a picture of this rare sight from one of our passengers which I'll post here.
Some sad news from the Center for Whale Research; four whales in L-pod have not been positively identified and/or photographed this summer. The missing whales are: Okum (L10), Ino (L54), Raina (L81) and Bernardo (L96). The Center cautions that it's too early to make an accurate population count, that more time and encounters are needed. We'll keep you posted.
June 16th, 1998
Another great week of whales, we saw all three pods on various trips last week. We watched J-pod fishing off the west side of San Juan Island and saw Samish (J14) breach five times as she worked fish near a tidal rip. It's believed that the orcas will use the turbulent water of tidal rips to herd and catch fish and breaching seems to be part of a hunting strategy.
L and K pods have been spending a few days together, we observed members of both pods travelling together on three trips last week. June 13th was particularly interesting; the whales appeared to be heading for the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and perhaps out to the ocean, when they turned and quickly moved east to Lopez. At this point, a sub-pod of L-pod turned south, while the rest of the pod headed north This may have been a feeding strategy, to cover the most space in search of food (Orcas must eat around 150 lbs. of fish each day).
Earlier that day we watched a minke whale in Griffin Bay breaching out of the water, lunge feeding. I've been on the water for five years and had never seen this behavior, I was thrilled!
Tuesday, June 9, 1998
We've been seeing the whales on almost every trip this past week, particularly K-pod.
We have seen some very interesting behavior. On June 5th we watched Blossom (J22) surface with a large fish in her mouth. She was with her son, Blackberry (J27) and daughter, Tsuchi (J31) and appeared to be teaching her three year old daughter how to fish by pushing the fish in front of Tsuchi. On June 6th, we watched Sounder (K3) and her family fishing off the back of our boat. K and L pods got together twice last week; on June 3rd both pods were foraging off the south end of San Juan Island. On June 8th, K and most of L pod were seen off North Pender Island in Canada.
The whales had been moving quickly up the west side of San Juan Island and finally slowed and eventually rested when we caught up with them. There were over 50 whales around us, including many whales we were seeing for the first time this year. We turned off our engines and were treated to a couple of very close encounters!
Tuesday, June 2, 1998
It's been a great week on the water with the whales. K pod and L pod returned to the area on Friday, June 29th. The two pods were reported in Johnstone Strait, northern Vancouver Island, a few days before their arrival here. This is the fourth time in five years that the two pods have returned to this area via the northern part of Vancouver Island. Researchers speculate that this may be due to the greater abundance of fish in that area.
We were watching J pod on Friday afternoon when we received information that K and L pod were about three miles north of us and heading our way. We turned with J pod and headed north. (That's Ruffles, J-1, at right...photo taken this week in Rosario Strait.) The three pods met just south of the Lime Kiln Lighthouse/Whale Watch Park on the west side of San Juan Island. There was quite a bit of tail lobbing, breaching and an occasional spy-hop (whale popping its head out of the water and looking around). It was great fun to see all the whales again. As often happens with L pod, not all of the pod members were part of the gathering. We saw family groups from the L12, L25 and L35 sub-pods.
The Center for Whale Research reports that such a sighting is typical, and they will wait for more encounters before making a final count on the pod population. Some sad news about K pod; we have seen them on three occasions and have not seen Taku (K1). If you've seen K pod in the past, you'll remember Taku as the large male with two notches at the top of his dorsal fin. He's the only adult male whale in K pod and usually travels next to his mother, Lummi (K7). If he is not seen soon, we'll have to assume he passed away over the winter. We'll keep you posted.
We've been having wonderful encounters with K and J pod (L pod has moved back out of the area). Sunday and Monday afternoon the whales treated us to some close encounters as they decided to watch us! Both days the whales swam under the back of our boat and looked at us. It was thrilling!
May 26, 1998
Good news! Oreo (J22) and her calf (J34) have rejoined their pod!
On Friday, May 22nd, we saw the whales with the rest of their family, swimming north near Henry Island. We had a remarkable encounter with these whales; Oreo and calf swam right under our boat and Oreo breached within 50 feet of our starboard bow. They seemed just as happy as we were to see them back together.
Theories abound on why this young mother and calf were so far from the rest of their pod. This behavior has never been witnessed by the Whale Museum or the Center for Whale Research in the past 22 years of study. One thought is that because salmon are unusually scarce this year, the pod may have left Oreo and calf in an area known for good fishing while they went out scouting for more fish. We will probably never know the reason, but both mother and calf look healthy.
J-pod continues to move up and down the west side of San Juan, looking for migrating salmon in Haro Strait. In typical springtime behavior, the whales are spread out over miles. We're expecting the return of K-pod any day. We'll keep you posted.
May 21, 1998
This past week has been somewhat out of the ordinary for J-pod.
This time of year the pod usualy stays around the west side of San Juan Island foraging. While we have seen the whales often, we have only seen sub groups of J pod, indicating that they are very spread out. The last two days we have only seen J-22 (Oreo) and her newborn in a very disturbing pattern. She has been approximately 15 to 20 miles away from the rest of J pod. She has been moving very quickly and appears disorientated. Her calf, who is between two and six months old, is swimming right next to mom but we all wonder for how long can this little one keep up the pace. J-22 is a 13 year old mother which is quite young. This is her first calf. Perhaps she is having a hard time being a mom which is producing the unordinary behavior we have been seeing.
I hope today we will get news that J-22 and her calf has rejoined her pod and everything is fine. I will keep everyone posted.
May 11, 1998
The orcas have returned to the San Juans!
We have seen J-Pod on five different encounters so far this year. The Center for Whale Research reports that all of the whales survived the winter and there are two newborns. J17 (Princess Angeline) had her second calf in January. The new calf is known as J34 and has a five year old sibling, J28 (Polaris). J22 (Oreo) is a first time mother at only 13 years old. Her calf, J35, was first seen in March and is just over two months old. Both calves and their families were seen last week.
As is typical this time of year, the whales were spread out over a great distance foraging for salmon. L-pod was reported in the area briefly last Thursday.
We have been seeing Stellar sea lions, a spring time regular, on virtually every trip. Last week we observed over 40 animals hauled out of the water and resting on Spieden Island. There has also been a lot of bald eagle activity. This year's chicks have been hatching for the past two weeks. The eaglets should be large enough to see within the next month.