J, K, And L Pod On 9/6/14 And 9/7/14

On the evening of September 5th, it was reported that all three Southern Resident pods, J, K and L, were headed for San Juan Island after being gone from the area for a few days. The next morning, I could see orcas heading North past my house so I went to see who they were. The water was flat calm and besides the orcas, there was no sound. As I stood along the coast line, the closest orcas to me were members of the J17 matriline. Princess Angeline J17, Tahlequah J35, Moby J44, and Notch J47 inched their way North and while I wasn't quick enough to get a picture, Angeline did do a big, slow motion spy hop as I was getting my camera ready. However, I was able to catch Moby tail slapping and some good ID shots of the four of them for the Center for Whale Research. Offshore I could see the K14's and I could hear exhales from orcas further South, North and Offshore of me.

Princess Angeline J17, born in 1977.

Moby J44 tail slaps. He was born in 2009.

In the afternoon, aboard the Odyssey of San Juan Excursions, we met up with the K16's and L pod off of False Bay on San Juan Island as they headed South. J pod and the rest of the K's had headed North for the Fraser River to look for Chinook/King salmon to eat. At the beginning of our encounter, we spotted Mega L41 off in the distance as he foraged. Up ahead we could see a larger group of orcas, which turned out to be the L43 and L47 matrilines socializing together. There was an occasional tail slap from them and then suddenly a bunch of spy hops ensued. I have never seen so many spy hops in such a short time!

First it was Fluke L105. . .

. . .then Moonlight L83. . .

. . .then came Moonlight's son, Midnight L110, who can be identified by a healed wound he got on his lip after he was born in 2007. . .

. . .then Racer L72 spy hopped. She is mother to Fluke. . .

. . .and Fluke closed with another spy hop!

Soon afterword, the two matrilines split up and the L43's went off to forage, while the L47's went into resting mode and lined up shoulder to shoulder together for a "snooze". We left the L47's to their resting and headed off to see some other orcas in the distance, who had a NOAA research boat with them. The NOAA researchers had attached a D-Tag to a young female named Cousteau L113, who was born in 2009. To attach a D-Tag, the researchers have to get close enough to press the suction cup tag on to the orca's body with a pole. Thus, they must follow the orcas around at an extremely close range, sometimes taking hours, until they are finally have the right orca and position to deploy the tag. Cousteau was clearly upset as she sped shakily away from the research boat, which of course, had to continue following her at close range to keep track of the tag until its detachment hours later. Ocean Sun L25, born around 1928, was also swimming quickly away from the research vessel. When she neared our boat, she slowed down and seemed to be regaining her breath.

It was a very upsetting for me to see the orcas so distressed by the presence of the NOAA vessel, which I have almost always seen when they are deploying the tags. These tags gather depths that the orcas are diving to and also have a hydrophone to gather boat noise and vocalizations. While this science is interesting, at this point in time, with so few Southern Residents, I think it would be better for the orcas if NOAA turned to improving their Recovery Plan so the orcas actually start recovering, making the Critical Habitat a little bit more than just a word, and finding a solution to the Chinook/King salmon situation at the Fraser River so these orcas actually have some food and stop miscarrying their calves due to low nutrition. Wouldn't it be great if these orcas could actually manage stay here all year long like they used to historically and be well fed the entire time? These are my thoughts. . .

L47's in their resting line.

After our trip, we learned that a new L pod calf had been discovered by Center for Whale Research staff, a little miracle tucked between aunt Ophelia L28 and mom Surprise L86, members of the L55 matriline. The calf, designated L120, is thought to have been about a week old. Not since August of 2012, had we seen a living calf. L120 puts the Southern Resident orcas back at seventy nine individuals instead of seventy eight, a step in the right direction.

The next morning, I headed out with some researcher friends of mine to explore the Strait of Juan De Fuca. As we headed back towards San Juan Island, we suddenly spotted Cappuccino K21 a few miles offshore of South Beach, which surprised me because I thought that the K16's and L's left the area the night before. Soon, members of L12's started popping up to the South of Cappuccino. First Mega L41 and Ocean Sun L25, then Solstice L89, Spirit L22, Matia L77, Joy L119, Calypso L94, Cousteau L113, and Mystery L85. I noticed that Cousteau didn't have her D-Tag on anymore but Solstice L89 had acquired one. With my 500 lens, I got a good shot of his tag.

Ocean Sun L25, born around 1928.

Solstice L89, born in 1993, with his D-Tag.

I scanned and scanned but there was no sign of the rest of L pod. Had they left while the L12's and K16's stayed? As we were about to head back to the dock, I noticed that Mystery L85 had a Pacific white sided dolphin harassing him. Each time he would surface, the dolphin would dart across his face or be right behind him. Mystery tried to loose the dolphin with couple of deep dives, and he eventually surfaced far off in the distance while the dolphin was left confused and alone over by us. The dolphin then came over to us a few whale watching boats nearby to play.

Mystery L85 gets harassed by the Pacific White sided dolphin.

Let's play!

Pretty sure this the same lone dolphin that has been harassing J and L pod off and on this season.

Later in the day, I spotted more orcas heading North past my house. Was it still the L12's and K16's? I'm glad I checked! As I stood on the rocky coastline, Kasatka L82, Finn L116, and Muncher L91 passed me and then turned back around to head South again. To the North of me, I could see more orcas heading towards me. As they got closer, I realized that I was looking at little L120, who was surfacing with its mom and aunt. It was my first ever encounter with the new edition to the family! I hope for many more encounters over the coming years. Close behind was Opus K16, Cappuccino K21 and Sonata K35 and off in the distance, I could also see Crewser L92. My question to whether the rest of L pod was still around had been answered, and I later found out that the L54's had been seen that day as well. Not too often do you get all of L pod together!

Week old L120 surfaces next to aunty Ophelia L27.

That evening J and the rest of K pod came back down from the Fraser River and the next morning (the 8th), all three pods were exiting the area. While the Residents were gone, we had three other pacific white sided dolphins around, minke whales, and two active humpbacks called Split fin BCZ0298 and BCY0523. On the night of the 10th, J, K, and L pod returned to San Juan Island after sunset.

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