Early in the morning of the 30th, I heard the Resident orcas breathing out in front of my house at False Bay, San Juan Island. They were all spread out offshore and were continuing to head offshore towards the Strait of Juan De Fuca. In the afternoon, on the Odyssey of San Juan Excursions, we headed for the same area. Just like the day before, we were lucky enough to see Dall's porpoise, but this time one of them rode our bow and stern wake!! Soon after, we met up with the orcas a few miles off of False Bay. It was everyone from the day before; the J14, J22, K12, K13 and K14 matrilines, meaning Group A of J pod (minus L87, plus J22's) and K pod (minus the K21 crew). I did not see J16's, but I did see the J19's this time. Where are those J16's??
The orcas had gathered closer together than when I had seen them that morning and they stayed in the same general area for our entire encounter. Some of the orcas were occasionally active but many of them were resting quite a bit too. It also seemed to me like they were purposefully wasting time, almost like they were waiting for something. Could they have heard other Resident orcas inbound or were they just waiting for the tide to change? Maybe they were even thinking about leaving for the open ocean.
The orcas had gathered closer together than when I had seen them that morning and they stayed in the same general area for our entire encounter. Some of the orcas were occasionally active but many of them were resting quite a bit too. It also seemed to me like they were purposefully wasting time, almost like they were waiting for something. Could they have heard other Resident orcas inbound or were they just waiting for the tide to change? Maybe they were even thinking about leaving for the open ocean.
One of the Dall's porpoise heads for the bow!
Sprouter male Cookie J38 in mid inverted tail slap.
Cookie J38 slaps his pectoral fin on the surface of the water, just like the day before!
Siblings Suttles J40 and Se-Yi'-Chn J45 rest at the surface together.
Adult male Scoter K25, his satellite tag wound visible in the middle of his dorsal fin.
Skagit K13 or Deadhead K27 spy hops.
That night, Group A and the K's began to leave for the open ocean through the lengthy Strait of Juan De Fuca and by morning had already made good progress. Interestingly, the J16's were with them. I wonder if they were with Group A all along or if they met up with them in Juan De Fuca? However, on September 1st, they were slowly making their way back, seemingly all 78 of the Southern Residents too. By sunset, they were all still far away from San Juan Island. It will be interesting to see which orcas stick around over these next few days.
Please don't use my photos without permission. Just ask :)
Please don't use my photos without permission. Just ask :)
