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J And L Pod On 6/29/14

6/30/2014

On the night of the 28th, I had wondered if J and/or L pod would leave during the night, or stick around. Luckily, they stuck around! Upon seeing Southern Resident orcas heading North outside my window in the afternoon, I tagged along with Captain Spencer of Legacy Charters to see who all was around. Soon we were on scene with different J and L pod matrilines, who were spread along much of the West side of San Juan Island. During our encounter we saw members from the J4, J14, J16, J22, L4, L43, and L47 matrilines as they traveled, foraged, and socialized together. In particular, a young male named Takoda L109 was incredibly active, breaching over and over again.

Alki J36 back dives! She was born in 1999.

Nugget L55, Jade L118, Kasatka L82, Surprise L86, and others surface together.

Takoda L109 breaches! He was born in 2007.

Takoda breaches again!

Takoda breaches once more!

Slick J16, born around 1972.

Mike J26, born in 1991.

It has been so amazing to have J's and L's around for so long. Hopefully it means they are finally finding enough salmon and that their bellies are full! Special thanks to Captain Spencer for letting me tag along!

Please don;t use my photos without permission. Just ask :)

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J's And L's On 6/28/14

6/28/2014

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During the night of 27th, J and almost all of L pod began to exit the area, but on the morning of 28th, they were headed back in again. Soon, the orcas were crossing Haro Strait from Discovery Island and headed for False Bay on San Juan Island. They milled around outside of the bay for awhile before traveling North up the West side of the island. Aboard the Odyssey of San Juan Excursions, we caught up with families from both pods and saw multiple breaches, back dives, cartwheels, spy hops, tail slaps, and pectoral fin slaps, as well as tactile and mating behavior. I identified members from the J11, J14, J16, J17, J22, L4, L26, L43, and L47 matrilines.

Tsuchi J31, born in 1995, spy hops.

Kasatka L82, born in 1990, surfaces in front of the Lime Kiln light house, where I do much of my land-based whale watching.

Rhapsody J32, born in 1996, spy hops.

Surprise L86, born in 1991, tail slaps.

As the sun set, I started to hear J and L pod vocalizations on the live streaming hydrophones along the West side of the island. It sounded like members from both pods were headed back South. Would they try to leave again during the night, or stick around?

Please don't use my photos without permission. Just ask :)

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An Evening With J And L Pod On 6/24/14

6/26/2014

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A few hours before sunset, I noticed J and L pod members heading North past my house through my window. I grabbed my camera and drove a little bit North of my house to a beach so I could see who was in the lead groups and then let them all pass me. Granny J2 (estimated to have been born in 1911), was in front as usual, with Onyx L87 offshore of her. Next came Blackberry J27, his sister Tsuchi J31, and Shachi J19, with her daughter Eclipse J41. The rest of the orcas were in twos and threes far offshore or in a super large group that was very close to shore.

The large group, which was made up of both J and L pod members, was in a resting line at the beginning of the encounter, but then began to mill about and socialize, seemingly indecisive about what direction to take. Doubelstuf J34, his mother Oreo J22, his cousin Rhapsody J32, and Suttles J40, who is from Granny's matriline, split off from the large group multiple times. During these instances they got very close to me as they logged at the surface in the setting sun and played in the kelp. They would then return to the big group and join them in shuffling up and down the beach. The orcas in twos and threes offshore also changed direction a lot, just when it seemed they had made a decision, they would turn back South or North.

Granny J2 in the lead!

Rhapsody J32, born in 1996, pokes her head and pectoral fin above the water.

Suttles J40, born in 2004. She is Granny's great grandaughter.

Oreo J22, born in 1985, drapes kelp over her pectoral fin.

Sprouter male Doublestuf J34, born in 1998, lazily surfaces while pulling kelp with his dorsal fin.

Doublestuf does an inverted tail slap.

Suttles breaches!

Rhapsody plays with kelp draped across her back.

Part of the big group of J's and L's.

Someone tail slaps next to Doublestuf in front of Mt. Rainier.

Ti'lem I'nges J49, born in 2012, spy hops in front of Mt. Rainier.

Mike J26, born in 1991, dives just off the rocks. He was part of the big group.

All together, the big group consisted of at least the J14's, J16's, J17's, J22's, L26's, and L43's. Eventually, instead off all passing me, the large group turned back South, and soon the rest of the orcas did as well. While at the beach, the water was calm, and there was not a breath of wind, which made for an incredibly quiet evening, except for the breathing and splashing coming from the orcas. What a very special and memorable encounter!

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L Pod All Day Long On 6/22/14

6/25/2014

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L pod decided to travel up and down the West side of San Juan Island all day on the 22nd, giving me multiple opportunities have close encounters with them from shore. In the morning, they quickly headed North past Lime Kiln State Park. After a little while, they turned around and swam right past again but this time they were in resting lines. Later on, I caught up with them one more time as they foraged and played together just a little South of the park. Nearly all of L pod has been around since the morning of the 19th, when everyone but the L54's (which includes Wave Walker L88 and Nyssa L84) came in. By the next day, the L12's and L22's had left, but the remaining matrilines (the L4's, L26's, L43's, and L47's) have continued to stick around.

Moonlight L83 breaches offshore of Lime Kiln State Park. She was born in 1990.

Marina L47, born in 1974, plays with kelp draped over her dorsal fin.

L pod members line up as they make their way past Lime Kiln State Park for the second time.

Crewser L92, born in 1995, and his sister Ballena L90, born in 1993.

Fluke L105, born in 2004, rolls on his side to slap his pectoral fin on the water.

Marina L47, Mystic L115, Surprise L86, Kasatka L82, Nugget L55, Jade L118, and Lapis L103 surface together.

Moonlight breaches again.

Moonlight tail slaps during my third encounter.

A young male named Takoda L109 spy hops while playing with two other youngsters; Midnight L110 and Jade L118.

Lapis L103, born in 2003, tail slaps.

I'm so happy that J and L pod have been around so much this summer! It has been the complete opposite of last year, which is when the presence of the Southern Resident orcas in the inland waters hit an all time low. They had literally never been so scarce in the area. At the moment, the orcas do seem to be finding salmon and they look pretty plump too! Hopefully their presence will continue through the rest of the season and K pod will come in soon to join the party!

Please don't use my photos without permission. Just ask.

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T036A's And T049A's On 6/20/14

6/23/2014

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This orca encounter was completely unexpected! I had seen the T036A's and T049A's earlier in the day aboard the Odyssey of San Juan Excursions near the North end of the island and thought they had continued away from the island. However, as I was driving past Land Bank on the West side of the island, I could see two whale watching close into shore. Curious, I pulled over to check it out, and I'm so glad I did! At some point, the orcas had turned around and headed back down island because now here they were, just about twenty feet from the Land Bank shoreline. Members from both of families were goofing off and playing in the kelp beds.The two matrilines, with eight animals altogether, are made up of these individuals:

The T036A's

T036A, F, 1990
T036A1, UNK, 2005
T036A2, UNK, 2012

The T049A's

T049A, F, 1986
T049A1, M, 2001
T049A2, UNK, 2007
T049A3, UNK, 2011
T049A4, UNK, 2014

Sprouter male T049A1 with his mother T049A.

T049A1 tail slaps.

T049A1 rolls over and drapes kelp over his pectoral fin.

One of the calves is supported on the head of another orca and carried around.

T049A3 tail slaps.

T036A.

T049A1 drapes kelp over his pectoral fin again.

A young one breaches next to T049A1.

I have only seen transient orcas from shore twice (not including this encounter) and both times they were far offshore, so this was a very special encounter. It was also the closest I had ever seen orcas to the shore at Land Bank. What an amazing encounter!

Please don't use my photos without permission. Just ask :)

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L Pod Returns On 6/19/14

6/22/2014

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It had been a pretty relaxing morning and J pod had already been sighted headed back toward San Juan Island after a trip to the Fraser River. Then, reports started pouring in that K and L pod were also headed for the island! K pod turned out to be a misidentification, but L pod was arriving! I headed out to the shoreline and could see them in the distance as they crossed Haro Strait from Discovery Island to San Juan Island. I wanted to know if all of L pod was in, or just part of it, and if there were any new babies, so I headed out on the water with some good friends of mine to check them out (thank you!!). The orcas were spread out in different socializing groups near Salmon Bank when we reached them. We ended up seeing every J pod member, and nearly everyone from L pod, except for the matriline known as the L54's, or the "Exotics", because they travel away from L pod a lot. We had about fifty six orcas all around us as we watched J and L pod's energetic reunion unfold.

Racer L72, born in 1986.

I didn't know Princess Angeline J17 had this notch on her top jaw. It appeared in other photos as well.

Tahlequah J35, Spirit L22, and Notch J47 surface together after being incredibly tactile.

We saw lots of mating behavior from many of the males, but we won't know if any of them were successful for seventeen months! There were also many breaches, spy hops, cartwheels, tail slaps, inverted tail slaps, pectoral fin slaps, dorsal fin slaps, aerial scans, and back dives.

Star J46, born in 2009, pokes her head above the surface in a spy hop.

Sprouter male Nigel L95, born in 1996.

Crewser L92, born in 1995, throws his body in a breach.

Mystery L85 has gotten so big! He was born in 1991.

Inverted tail slap from a young one.

So much rolling and touching!

Sprouter male Doublestuf J34, born in 1998, tail slaps.

Tsuchi J31, born in 1995, breaches. She breached multiple times during the encounter.

Granny J2, estimated to have been born in 1911.

Tahlequah J35 breaches.

Star J46 does an aerial scan.

This encounter was one of, if not the best I have ever had, and I am still going through my photos. Eventually, many of them will be uploaded on my Flickr page and added to the individual orca sets. More orca encounters to come!

Please don't use my photos without permission. Just ask :)

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Amazing J Pod Encounter On 6/17/14

6/20/2014

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When editing the photos for this blog, I almost always crop them down to show detail. This is because at San Juan Excursions we try our best to stay 200 yards away from the orcas, as all boaters and paddlers should do when they are watching them, since it is the law. However, on this day, the orcas had different plans and no matter how hard we tried to keep the distance between us and them, we had close encounters when Eclipse J41 surfaced beside us and caught a salmon, and when members of the J17 matriline decided to dive under the Odyssey. It was great to see all of J pod back together since they have been so split up lately and we saw most of the members during our time with them at Salmon Bank off of San Juan Island.

Eclipse J41, born in 2005.

Eclipse pokes her head above the water as she puts on the brakes while chasing a salmon.

She got it!

Granny J2, estimated to have been born in 1911.

Tahlequah J35, born in 1998, and her son Notch J47, who was born in 2010.

Notch pokes his head out of the water. . .

. . .and starts vocalizing!

His eye was open!!

Moby J44, born in 2009, with his mother Princess Angeline J17, who was born in 1977.

Tahlequah coming to the surface to breathe.

Notch and Tahlequah.

Moby belly flops beside his mother.

Sprouter male Doublestuf J34, born in 1998.

J pod slowly traveled and foraged up the the West side of the island into the evening. From shore, I saw them line up to rest while swimming against the strong flood tide near Lime Kiln State Park. Just before sunset, they woke up and began to point offshore and it seemed like they were planning to exit the area during the night. However, they were still around the next day and spent their time up at the Fraser River. The next morning (the 19th) held a big surprise!

Please don't use my photos without permission. Just ask!

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J Pod Group B And The T065A's On 6/16/14

6/17/2014

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The day began and ended with orcas. Early in the morning during a charter, the Odyssey of San Juan Excursions was the first boat on scene with Group B of J pod as they slowly headed North of San Juan Island ebbing tide. On this day, Group B was made up of the J22's (Oreo J22, Doublestuf J34, Cookie J38, and Rhapsody J32), the J11's (Tsuchi J31 and Mako J39) and the J17's (Princess Angeline J17, Polaris J28, Tahlequah J35, Moby J44, Star J46, and Notch J47). It is interesting to note that Blackberry J27, who is part of the J11's, was not with his matriline, but off with the J14's and J19's in Group A on the other side of the island. The J16's were later found by themselves North of Saturna Island but they were soon joined by Group B and later A as they all eventually reunited with each other by night fall.

Sprouter male Doublestuf, born in 1998.

Princess Angeline, born in 1977, and Oreo, who was born in 1985.

When the orcas made it into some boat wakes and a small area of choppy seas, a few spy hops and tail slaps ensued. Oreo J22, as well as Tsuchi J31 were the spy hoppers.

Spy hop!

Oreo spy hops!

Tsuchi spy hops! She was born in 1995.

From left to right: Polaris, Cookie, and Rhapsody.

From left to right: Cookie, Mako, Star, Tsuchi, and Polaris.

On our afternoon trip, we encountered an active transient orca matriline known as the T065A's. This matriline is made up of T065A, the mother, and her four offspring; T065A2, T065A3, T065A4, and T065A5. By the looks of it, they had made a kill (probably a harbor seal) and were in celebration mode.

T065A, born in 1986.

T065A3, born in 2007, tail slaps.

T065A3 fooling around with sibling T065A2, who was born in 2004.

The newest member of the family, T065A5, who was born in March of 2014!

What an amazing day this was!! What will happen next?

Please don't use my photos without permission. Just ask :)

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J Pod Group A Encounter On 6/15/14

6/16/2014

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On the day that my last encounter took place (the 13th), J pod exited the area during the night and was no where to be seen the next day. However, early in the morning on the 15th, I woke up to reports of orcas at Sooke, BC and that they were headed East for San Juan Island. These orcas turned out to be J pod, ALL of J pod! It took a few hours for them to make their way to Discovery Island and cross Haro Strait and end up on the West side of the San Juan (partly because they were swimming against the ebbing tide) but I eventually picked them up in my binoculars as I sat on shore. As J pod crossed Haro, they nearly swam right into two transient orca matrilines known as the T065A's and T124A's . The T124A's ended up turning around and quickly heading the opposite direction once (maybe because they figured out that the residents were nearby) while the T065A's ducked into Oak Bay, near Victoria. There seems to be a rule between these two different species of orca, which is that they do not interact with each other in any way. They continued to stand by this rule.

As J pod made their way across Haro Strait, they became very active with tail slaps, breaches, cartwheels and other behaviors. Once they were at San Juan Island, the pod settled down and split into Group A and B. This splitting into two groups began a few years ago. Normally this is how the groups are made up, but this year has been a little different.

Group A contains:

Granny J2, F (est. 1911)
Samish J14, F (est.1974)
Hy'Shqa J37, F (2001)
Suttles J40, F (2004)
Se-Yi'-Chn J45, M (2009)
Ti'lem I'nges J49, M (2012)
Shachi J19, F (1979)
Eclipse J41, F (2005)
Onyx L87, M (1992)

Onyx is an L pod member but travels with Granny.

Group B contains:

Oreo J22, F (1985)
Doublestuf J34, M (1998)
Cookie J38, M (2003)
Rhapsody J32, F (1996)
Princess Angeline J17, F (1977)
Polaris J28, F (1993)
Tahlequah J35, F (1998)
Moby J44, M (2009)
Star J46, F (2009)
Notch J47, M (2010)
Blackberry J27, M (1991)
Tsuchi J31, F (1995)
Mako J39, M (2003)

Slick J16, F (est.1972)

Mike J26, M (1991)

Alki J36, F (1999)

Echo J42, F (2007)

These orcas are known to switch between Group A and B.

This year, the J22's (Oreo, Doublestuf, Cookie, and Rhapsody) and sometimes the J11's (Blackberry, Tsuchi, and Mako) have switched to traveling with Group A, while the J17's (Princess Angeline J17, Polaris J28, Tahlequah J35, Moby J44, Star J46, Notch J47) have gone off on their own. The J16's (Slick, Mike, Alki, and Echo) have been almost exclusively with Group A too.

On this day, Group A was the J14's (Granny, Onyx, Samish, Hy'shqa, Suttles, Se-Yi'-Chn, and Ti'lem I'nges) and J19's (Shachi and Eclipse) as usual, but Blackberry was with them, specifically traveling beside Samish. I saw him doing this on the 13th too! Group A swam North up the West side of the island, while Group B (the J16's, J17's, and J22's) headed South down the island. I caught up with Group A at Lime Kiln State Park as they came close to shore.

Granny was in the lead! Still looking good at the estimated age of 103 years old.

Granny's unique dorsal fin shape, nick, and saddle patch.

Blackberry following Samish, who was just a head of him.

Shachi surfaces high out of the water.

Se-Yi'-Chn swims beside his mother Samish.

Eclipse increases her speed to catch up with her mom Shachi.

I was unable to catch up with Group B as they continued South but I did manage to listen and record them as they vocalized on the live streaming hydrophones in the evening. I should also note that most of L pod was also spotted near Sooke on this day but they turned around and exited the area. Still, maybe a visit from L pod is in the near future?

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

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J Pod Gets Active On 6/13/14

6/13/2014

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I am finally back home on San Juan Island in Washington State and just had my first encounter with orcas this season while aboard the "Odyssey" of San Juan Excursions today. Since May 31st, J pod has been hanging around the island. When J pod was seen leaving the area on June 6th, they were back on the next day, and have been around ever since. I was very happy to hear that J pod had stuck around for another day this morning and was soon on scene with the orcas. They had been in a resting pattern offshore of Eagle Point, but just before we arrived, they began to wake up, get very active, and head inshore to Pile Point.

We saw almost every behavior during our encounter as members of J pod breached, back dived, cartwheeled, tail slapped, inverted tail slapped, pec slapped, dorsal fin slapped, and spy hopped multiple times. Once the pod was closer to shore, they began foraging for salmon, especially Doubelstuf J34 and Tsuchi J31, who looked to be in hot pursuit of some fish. I saw all members of the J11, J16, J19, and J22 matrilines, and most of the J14's (including Onyx L87). I did not see any members from the J17 matriline, which means they are probably still out in the open ocean.