J, K, And Nearly All Of L Pod On 7/6/15

On July 5th, J, K, and almost all L pod made an appearance at San Juan Island. The L12s were soon set to leave again though and were headed West for the open ocean in the Strait of Juan De Fuca by the afternoon, except for the L22s, who split off from the L12s and foraged off of Eagle Point. While the L12s and L22s were doing their thing, J, K, and the rest of L pod (minus the L54s) headed North for the Fraser River. The next day, the L12s were gone but the L22s were still hanging around Eagle Point and J, K, and L pod (still minus the L54s) came back down to San Juan Island from the North.

Later that afternoon, the orcas did a little "West side shuffling". From shore at Lime Kiln State Park, I watched as J, K, and nearly all of L pod headed North past the park and again few hours later as J pod (now minus the J16s), the K14s, and the Ls came back South past the park while the J16s and rest of K pod decided to continue North and did not pass the park again.

On their first pass, the orcas went by in two large groups with a few matrilines sprinkled in between. The first large group was made up of Granny J2 (who was full of tail slaps), the J11, J14, J17, J22, K12, and K14 matrilines. The J19s and K13s might have passed by before them because they are not in my photos and I think I missed some orcas before I got to the park as I was just driving past and chanced on their pass by. Next to pass the park were the K16s and Cappuccino K21, who were a bit offshore. Then came the L4s, L26s, L43s, and L47s in the second big group. This was my first time seeing Racer L72 and Fluke L105 (from the L43s), plus Ballena L90 and Crewser L92 (from the L26s) this season as the four of them had not visited the island until the day prior! Fluke L105 is sure getting big! Last to pass by slightly offshore of the park was the J16 matriline. 

Granny J2, born around 1911, tail slaps off the rocks at Lime Kiln State Park.

Polaris J28 surfaces close to shore. She was born in 1993 and is part of the J17 matriline.

From left to right: Muncher L91, Ballena L90, Crewser L92, and Pooka L106.

A few hours later, J pod (now minus the J16s), the K14s, and the Ls came back South past the park while the J16s and rest of K pod continued North. The first to pass by were the J14s and K14s close to shore, followed by the J11s, J17s, J19s, J22s, L4s, L26s, L43s, L47s, and Onyx L87 all spread out offshore.

Adult male Lobo K26, born in 1993. He is part of the K14 matriline.

Sprouter male Doublestuf J34, born in 1998. He is part of the J22 matriline.

The next day, the K13s headed down Boundary Pass and returned to San Juan Island. The J16s were also around and hung out near Lime Kiln for a bit. The L22s were still foraging off of Eagle Point and the K12s were also down in that area. However, J and nearly all of L pod were on their way of the area through the Strait of Juan De Fuca. Where would they all be the next day?

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