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Multiple Transient Orca Encounters On 1/3/15

1/6/2015

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On my last day of Christmas break on San Juan Island, some friends and I decided to head out on the water one last time to look for orcas and other cetaceans. We departed Snug Harbor and aimed across Haro Strait for Baynes Channel. Once through Baynes, we motored past Trial Island and Race Rocks, scanning for cetaceans all along the way. Off of Sooke, we got a call from the Center for Whale Researcher's Ken Balcomb. There had been a report of six orcas near Harney Channel (between Orcas and Shaw Island) and he wondered if we might help in the search. Hopeful that the orcas might be a Southern Resident orca matriline called J16's (who just had a new calf), we turned around and charged toward San Juan Island. Not long after, we received another report of orcas off of Sooke! We turned around again to get some quick ID's and were able to see a few surfacings by the T068C's, a Transient orca matriline I had not encountered before. The highlight was seeing T068C1, the juvenile that accidentally stranded on rocks in Klakas Inlet at Prince of Wales Island, Alaska, on September 30, 2013. Luckily, T068C1 was rescued and eventually found its way back to its family.
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T068C, born in 1992. She is T068C1's mother.
Though we did not see them, there were more Transient orcas sighted offshore of us. These orcas turned out to be the T077's. After our quick encounter with the T068C's, we turned back and dashed for San Juan Island again as we had limited light to find and ID the orcas near Harney Channel. We encountered rough seas on our way back past Trial Island from Race Rocks and had slow the boat for a bit of time, but once back in Baynes Channel, we got back up to speed and were soon back over in Haro Strait off of San Juan Island. We then headed around Henry Island, took a listen/scan near Stuart Island, headed down San Juan Channel, through Wasp Passage and into Harney Channel.

Once in the Channel, we saw tons of very excited seagulls in the area, a possible indication that Transient orcas were nearby and had made a kill.
Could we have really just found them? The reports were hours old by now, which meant the orcas could have traveled many miles away from their original location. Harney channel, and well as a good portion of the surrounding area had also already been searched. We slowed the boat, and it wasn't long before one of my friends spotted the orcas off to our left! What luck!! The orcas turned out to be the T060's and an unrelated female known T002B, six in total. They had obviously made a kill, but unlike the Southern Resident orcas that only feed on salmon (especially Chinook/King salmon), these Transients had probably caught a harbor seal or some other marine mammal.
We observed a short post-kill celebration by the orcas before they changed into travel mode and headed past the Orcas Island ferry dock toward the Shaw Island ferry dock. Soon after, they went down on a deep dive, so we shut off the boat and waited for them to surface again. We notified the center's Dave Ellifrit to make sure he could encounter them too and it wasn't long before he arrived on scene.

A few minutes into their deep dive, the females and juveniles
unexpectedly popped up right off the stern. They had either made another kill or were just continuing to feed from their last. They ended up circling around the boat for a quite bit of time and we were unable to start vessel and move due to their proximity. The male, T060C surfaced off in the distance and joined them in the feeding soon after. There was good amount of blood in the water and I even saw remains (looked like lungs) as they sank beside the boat.
I had never been so close to a kill before. While all this was going on, I managed to film a bit of it with my new GoPro and you can view the footage (no audio) below! T060D surfaces with flesh in its mouth at 1:14. T002B spy hops at 1:32.
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T060, born around 1980, is the matriarch of the family.
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T060F, born in 2012, surfaces while gulls try to grab some scraps.
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T060D with blood in the water. T060D was also observed with a piece of flesh in its mouth.
After more milling about, the orcas lined up in travel mode again and headed toward Lopez Island.
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From left to right: T060, T002B, and T060C.
The sun was just about to set so we got our last looks in and headed home. What a great encounters to end my time on San Juan Island with! I'll be back during spring break, but until then, I'll be at Evergreen State College studying ornithology. Birds are great too! See y'all in March!

Please do not use any of my photos without permission. Just ask.
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A New J Pod Calf On 12/30/14

1/2/2015

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With reports coming in of J pod in the vicinity on the 30th, my friends and I headed out onto the water. After a short ride from Snug Harbor to Battleship Island, we found Granny J2, Cookie J38, and Doublestuf J34 slowly meandering around. Sprouter male Cookie J38 was active and tail slapped five times, then rolled over to do an inverted tail slap. Soon after, he found a pile of detached bull kelp that was floating around and played with it for an extended period of time, and at one point poked his head out the water with the kelp hanging from his mouth. We did not see any other orcas for awhile, due to them being very spread out.
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Granny J2, born around 1911.
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Sprouter male Cookie J38 tail slaps. He was born in 2003.
Blackbery J27 eventually popped up over near Danger Shoal, so we headed over to take a look at his new barbed satellite tag that he acquired on December 28th. It was still attached by the titanium leaves but was a little crooked, similar to how Onyx L87's tag sat. I hope that when the tag detaches over the next few weeks or months, the barbs do not stay in his fin like they did with Scoter K25. Scoter K25 was tagged in December of 2012, and still can be seen with the barbs protruding from his swelled dorsal fin.

After circling around Danger Shoal for quite a bit of time, Blackberry began to head North, and was soon paralleling Granny J2, Cookie J38, Doublestuf J34, and Oreo J22. At one point, Oreo J22 spy hopped, and awhile later Blackberry J27 breached. The five of them loosely headed up Haro Strait together and once they reached Turn Point on Stuart Island, we left to them try to spot other J pod members further North. The next orcas we saw were Polaris J28, Tsuchi J31, and Star J46, which Ken Balcomb and Dave Ellifrit of the Center for Whale Research were with off of Moresby Island. To help Ken and Dave find more orcas, we headed up in Swanson Channel to do a little scouting. We first spotted Princess Angeline J17, Shachi J19, Eclipse J41, and Onyx L87, then Samish J14 and Se-Yi'-Chn J45. In the distance, we also saw Hy'shqa J37 and Ti'lem I'nges J49.

As we neared Mouat Point on North Pender Island, Ken and Dave spotted Slick J16, Echo J42. They also noticed that as Slick J16 surfaced, a tiny calf was tucked in her slip stream!! This new calf, designated as J50, was born sometime in late December of 2014. The relationship between Slick J16 and J50 was unclear. Born around 1972, Slick is expected to be post-reproductive, so it is possible that Slick's daughter, Alki J36, is J50's mother and that Slick was just baby sitting her grandchild so Alki could have a break. I did spot Alki towards the end of our encounter as she traveled loosely with Princess Angeline J17, Tsuchi J31, Moby J44, and Star J46, so she is not missing. Hopefully the next encounter with J pod will confirm who the mother is. Someone is at least producing milk because the calf looked healthy and was not acting lethargic. It should also be noted that J50 is extremely raked up along its dorsal fin and flanks. It is thought that J50's birth was a difficult one and that an adult whale helped pull the calf out of the mother's uterus.
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Meet J50, born sometime in late December, 2014!
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J50 with Slick J16, who was born around 1972. Slick's relationship with the calf is still unclear. Is she J50's mother, or grandmother?
As we watched Slick J16, Echo J42, and J50 slowly make their way along the North Pender Island shoreline towards Active Pass, the trailing orcas slowly caught up with them. The first to catch up were Suttles J40 and Se-Yi'-Chn J45 and they both quickly headed straight over to J50 and its family. There was then a burst of activity as Suttles and Se-Yi'-Chn darted around the calf. They could have been trying to play or were just really excited over the newest member of J pod. Slick J16 then began to do high aerial scans and carried J50 on her head for an extended period of time. Whether Slick was joining in the fun/excitement, or becoming upset over the hyper youngsters around J50, I can't say for sure, but Suttles and Se-Yi'-Chn did leave Slick, Echo, and J50 soon after.

After a little while longer, we also left the J50 and family, and headed to Active pass and then slowly headed back down Swanson Channel to pick up any individuals we hadn't seen yet on the way back home. In order of appearance, we saw Ti'lem I'nges J49, Hy'shqa J37, Se-Yi'-Chn J45, Alki J36, Notch J47, Tsuchi J31, Princess Angeline J17, Star J46, and Moby J44 on our way back through Swanson.
With the birth of J50, the Southern Resident orcas are now back up to 78 members, a step in the right direction. I'll be back at Evergreen State College soon, but hopefully Ken and Dave will have another encounter with J pod soon and confirm who the mother is. What a special, once in a life time encounter on the first day J50 was ever seen!! Hopefully the calf will live a long life.

Please do not use my photos without permission. Just ask.

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    Author

    Melisa Pinnow grew up on San Juan Island in Washington State. She attended The Evergreen State College from 2013 to 2017, receiving a Bachelor of Science in marine biology and ornithology. She has been a certified marine naturalist at San Juan Excursions since 2010. It is her hope that sharing her orca encounters will inspire others to love and protect these magnificent creatures for generations to come.

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