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On the night of 7/1/14 or early in the morning of 7/2/14, K pod returned to San Juan Island, joined J and L pod and formed the first superpod gathering of the season! Aboard the Odyssey of San Juan Excursions, we departed from Friday Harbor and headed North to see the family reunion. We met up with the J, K, and L pod as they headed past Stuart Island, aimed for the Fraser River. J and K pod were in the lead while L pod (minus the L12's, L22's and L54's) brought up the rear. Towards the end of the encounter, L pod turned around and headed back down towards San Juan while J and K pod continued on. I saw members from each of K pod's matrilines and am so happy they are back!! Hopefully they find enough to stick around for awhile!
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It was the morning of the first day of July and the water was like glass. As I gazed out my window, I spotted L pod members heading past my house. A few minutes later, I was standing along some cliffs near my house looking down at the orcas as they milled about and socialized. It was Group B of J pod and all the matrilines of L pod besides the L12's and L54's (which now includes Nyssa L84 and Wave Walker L88). Group A of J pod was up North near the Fraser River in Canada. In the lead were the J11, J22, L4 and L43 matrilines. They were lazily headed North but also kept on turning around, socializing, and playing. The matrilines South of them were doing the same. Finally, someone did a tremendous breach, followed by forceful tail slaps from a few others and everyone (including the families to the South) committed to heading North and set off. As those four families headed North, the J17's, L26's, and L47's passed by me as they brought up the back. I could see their entire bodies just under the surface. One female swam upside down, while some of the others were shoulder to shoulder, occasionally turning on their sides and gazing up in my direction. This was on of my best shore-based orca encounters to date, but the next day held a surprise!
Please don't use my photos without permission. Just ask! This day was full of blue skies, calm seas, and orcas! Aboard the Odyssey of San Juan Excursions we headed South and wasn't too long before we were on scene with members from J and L pod near Lime Kiln State Park on the West side of San Juan Island as they headed North. Close into shore I could see the J22 matriline, but there were orcas up in front and farther offshore of us. The orcas ahead of us turned out to be some L4 matriline members, including Ophelia L27 (born around 1965), as well as J11 matriline members known as Tsuchi J31 and Blackberry J27. As Ophelia pulled ahead and Tsuchi with a few others started turning back South, we spent much of our time with Blackberry. The J11 matriline is quite small. At the moment, it is just three siblings; Blackberry, Tsuchi (born in 1995), and Mako (born in 2003). Their mother, Blossom J11, passed away in 2008 at about thirty six years old, which is pretty young. Shachi J19 is probably their aunt, meaning Eclipse J41 is their probable cousin, but the three don't seem to travel with them very often.
One thing I noticed on this day is that there were many people in their own personal sail, speed, and fishing boats watching the whales. I am glad that these people were interested in the orcas, but I must add a few friendly reminders. Please remember to stay at least 200 yards away from the orcas while paralleling them, and at least 400 yards out of their path. If the orcas are close to or approaching your boat, try to slowly move out of their way or if need be, turn off your motor and let them pass. If they are close to shore, do not travel inshore of them. Lastly, please do not park in their path or speed near/over/through them. I saw many instances of bad behavior from the private boaters on this day and hope that next time these people are on the water, they view the orcas from the correct distances. To learn more about how to watch the orcas respectfully, click here. Later on in the evening, after the sun had set and I was back at the house, I began hearing orcas breathing outside my open windows. It was 10:08 PM, but there was still just barely enough light for me to see some J and L pod members head South past the house. I saw a belly flop and a tail slap from a young one and I could hear more slaps and splashes to the North of me. I wonder where they will be tomorrow? Please do not use my photos without permission. Just ask :) 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. 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 :) 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. 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 :) 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. 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!
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. 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. 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. 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. 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 :) 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. 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! 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. 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. 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. What an amazing day this was!! What will happen next?
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AuthorMelisa 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. Archives
October 2018
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