J Pod Outbound On 3/27/15

On the morning of the 27th, J pod arrived at San Juan Island, their echolocation clicks audible on the OrcaSound hydrophone, which is located between Snug Harbor and Andrew's Bay. I drove down to Lime Kiln State Park (South of the Orcasound hydrophone) in time to see Samish J14, Hyshqa J37, Suttles J40, and Ti'lem I'nges J49 foraging for salmon a little offshore, as well as a few more individuals way far out in Haro Strait. The orcas were generally heading Southwest and spread out. After the short encounter at Lime Kiln, I was out on the water with some friends to find the rest of the pod.

Fog was rolling in but it wasn't long before I spotted a few orcas off to our right as we headed down the shoreline of San Juan. These orcas turned out to be the J16s: matriarch Slick J16, and her three daughters Alki 36, Echo J42, and J50, but no Mike J26. Slick J16, Echo J42, and J50 mostly stuck close together and Alki J36 would occasionally join them for a bit before pulling ahead and traveling by herself. J50 being her usual independent self, would sometimes surface behind the others, or stay near the surface while everyone else was on a dive. At one point, while waiting for the orcas to resurface after a long deep dive and keeping a slow, predictable path of travel at what had been the correct distance away from them, the four decided to pop up right next to boat and check us out before contiuing on their way. The J16s led us across Haro Strait in the fog to Discovery Island, where we left them to get ID's of other J pod members.

Alki J36, born in 1999, and Slick J16 (background), born around 1972.

Slick J16 with J50, born in December of 2014, at her side.

Echo J42, born in 2007, with Slick J16 and J50 in the background.

Slick J16, J50, and Alki J36 with Victoria, BC, in the background.

As we we were leaving the J16s, we could see a male up a ahead traveling by himself. He turned out to be Mike J26, who was born in 1991 and is Slick J16's son. More orcas were surfacing further West of us so we headed over towards them and spotted Princess Angeline J17 and Moby J44 with the J14s, and then Polaris J28 and Star J46 with the J11s. The pod then started gathering together and lining up in a slow moving resting line. Individuals we had not seen yet appeared in the line, J51's little orange chin poking up noticeably beside Eclipse J41 with every surfacing. Soon, almost every member of J pod was in the line, except for the J16s who were still far back behind them, as well as males Doublestuf J34 and Onyx L87, who rarely joined the line at all, but decided to go off to wrestle and socialize with each other for the entire encounter. Eventually, the J16s, now including Mike J26, joined the resting line.

Resting lines always prove to be some of the most beautiful behaviors to watch orcas do in my opinion.
It is when the orcas go to "sleep" by shutting off one hemisphere of their brains at a time. The pod usually lines up shoulder to shoulder and synchronizes their breaths, slowly moving as one.

The resting line forms.

From left to right: Cookie J38, Polaris J28, Oreo J22, Notch J47, Tahlequah J35, and Star J46 surface together.

Hy'shqa J37, Tsuchi J31, Polaris J28, and Blackberry J27.

Granny J2, born around 1911, with Oreo J22 and Cookie J38 in the background.

At some point a bit later, the orcas switched back to a slow travel mode instead of slow resting mode, and that might have been when Granny J2 rolled over on her back and did an inverted tail slap, followed by a pectoral fin slap. Besides Granny's slaps, there were occasional tail slaps from other members of the pod, including Eclipse J41 and Onyx L87, and some rolling around, but I did not see any other active behaviors during the entire encounter.

From left to right: Shachi J19, Eclipse J41, J51, Tsuchi J31, and Blackberry J27.

The orcas continued West in Juan De Fuca Strait, passing Race Rocks. It was great to see all of J pod traveling together in one big group instead of spread out for miles, something that is all too common now, probably in search for Chinook salmon.

From left to right: Alki J36, Oreo J22, Star J46, Tahlequah J35, Se-Yi'-Chn J45, Polaris J28, Samish J14, Slick J16, and Granny J2.

Just past Race Rocks, the water condition deteriorated from calm to high swells and choppy whitecaps. We said our goodbyes to J pod and turned back for calmer waters. Little did we know that when the next time J pod would be seen (just a few days later on March 30th), that there would be ANOTHER new calf in tow, J52! I Hope to meet this new little one once I'm back home on San Juan Island in June. The last few months have sure been crazy for the Southern Resident orcas! J50 was born in December, followed by J51 and L121 in February, and just when I thought it couldn't get any better, J52 was born at the end of March. Here's to hoping that all the babies stay safe and that K pod returns to the inland waters with new calves too. What a wonderful orca filled Spring Break!

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