Whale Sightings Blog

This morning we headed into a chilly wind and choppy waters in Bellingham Bay instead of fog.....rounded the corner at the south end of Lummi Island and waited to hear some "whale news" on the radio. Reports came in of a group of whales on the west side of San Juan Island at the north end heading south - which way to go? We headed to the middle of the islands route that would put us in position to go to the north or south end of San Juan Island. There was definitely fog ahead of us and we knew we were going to get into it at some point - as we rounded the corner at Cattle Pass, the fog grew thicker, and the further north we went, the more fog set in - we headed towards Eagle Point (thank goodness for radar!) and began to see some other whale watch boats - usually a good sign that there are whales in the vicinity! Visibility was not more than about a 1/4 mile at that point. All of a sudden we saw some fins surfacing, and got to see some juvenile orcas and a female - the juveniles were cavorting together - rolling around, slapping their tails, breaching - looked like fun! Then we lost them in the fog ....then we found them again...then we lost them....the day kind of went like that. There they are, then they're gone..sometimes you get impatient and want the fog to lift so you can see, but there's also something magical about seeing the orcas in the fog - you can hear their breaths a lot better too. Most of the time we were watching, they were changing direction a lot - often indicative of salmon chasing, and sometimes just playing (the juveniles). The area we saw them in is one of their favorite spots for salmon hunting - the salmon make their way in from the ocean through the Strait of Juan de Fuca and tend to bunch up on the west side of San Juan Island - Salmon Bank is a shallower area where the fish are forced to come up in depth. And there we find the orcas a LOT of the time. Just before we had to leave, we got to see the newest member of K pod (K43) born February of this year, and her mom Sequim (K4) side by side - Sequim has a VERY distinctive saddle patch so is pretty easy to ID. Very exciting! We returned via the south end of Lopez Island up through Rosario Strait and Bellingham Channel - fog had lifted to the south, we had some sun, and then some rain on our way back. Lovely day all around! Penny

We (and the visiting tall ship Hawaiian Chieftain ) headed into the fog this morning across Bellingham Bay, which quickly lifted once we got to the south end of Lummi Island in Hale's Passage. There were reports of orcas in many different areas this morning, so we decided to head to the group that was closest - in Boundary Pass heading towards East Pt. Our ride out was a bit bumpy with the winds and changing tides, but the kids (and some others) really enjoyed it! We briefly stopped to see harbor seals hauled out on the rocks, many with pups, at Sucia Island - we also spotted eagles along the shoreline there. We started seeing orcas at the south end of Saturna Island (a Canadian Gulf Island) - there were a few small groups traveling at a pretty good clip towards East Pt. They hugged the shoreline at the point, then started some breaching and tail lobbing as they rounded the point. There was one large male in the group, the rest being females and juveniles - a bit later as we got further out into Rosario Strait, we noticed that there was a very small calf hanging close to the big male - in fact, as they traveled along, the calf started to breach next to him and continued breaching on a regular basis. It is known that brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles will "babysit" the youngsters at times. Makes me think of the time years ago, when I first went out to see these orcas,  a J pod calf who had been orphaned (Rhapsody) was seen constantly at the side of her uncle (Everett). As we traveled slowly across the strait, we got to see breaches, tail lobs, spyhops, and lunges. They were traveling fairly strong and fast most of the time. It was a beautiful setting, with Mt. Baker looming in the background, sun shining - we had a gorgeous ride back with calm waters and some harbor porpoise sightings along the way. And may I say, a great group of folks on board today -92 people! - and many good questions! Penny Stone, naturalist

Today we headed up Rosario Strait and looked at the whale bones of a grey whale carcass. (See previous reports). We went by Lummi Rocks and saw many harbor seals with lots of pups! We came across part of L pod and J pod at Henry Island. The water is deep here, and they like to fish along the shoreline. We must have just caught them after a good feeding, because it soon became apparent that it was nap time. Whatever ‘play’ they had earlier, had obviously played out. When an orca goes to sleep, its breathing is not automatic. So if they were to not consciously breathe, they would drown. To compensate for this, they put one hemisphere of their brain to sleep at a time. The other hemisphere is ‘awake’ enough to monitor their breathing and movement. They group together and slowly swim in one direction. This is nap time, which can last anywhere from a few minutes to a couple of hours. This was one of those two hour naps! We love to get out here and see breaches, spy hops, and all of the other acrobatics…………..but sometimes it just doesn’t happen that way. They are wild in their natural environment. This is the beauty of watching whales in the wild. We get to see them, and it’s on their time and agenda. We see them in their natural state. (By the way, guess who’s usually the first to wake up……………yes, the babies!) One of the groups we saw was the J16’s.  J16, (Slick b. 1972) has four calves ranging in age from two to nineteen. Her nineteen year old is a large male called Mike, J26.  He was named the year Mike Bigg the ‘father of orca whale research’ died. Mike has a very distinctive saddle patch, and he is easy to spot.  We left the whales and went home through the middle of the islands. Today we spotted harbor seals, harbor porpoise, pigeon guillemots, marbled murreletts, rhinocerous auklets, a great blue heron, kingfisher, crows, eagles and turkey vultures. There were also numerous gulls. The Heerman’s gulls are beginning to make quite a showing. They are migratory, as all gulls here are except for the glaucous wing gulls.

 

 

 

Our trip today took us north almost to Point Roberts, where there was just one other boat from Vancouver B.C. It was chilly on the way up, but once we were the whales, it started to warm up and act more like July. We stopped at Clement’s Reef to look at some harbor seals and a bald eagle. There were several pups hauled out with their moms. There were also many harbor porpoise spotted on the way north. The body of water we were travelling is called the Strait of Georgia and it is pretty wide open. It’s not the best for bird sightings or much of anything really except for Orcas (if they are there). We have had two other fantastic days this season, and this one rivaled them. Every day out watching whales is beautiful, but some are just better than others. Today was one of them. We saw spy hops, breaches, cartwheels, babies and more babies! And the babies were in a playful mood. We were with J pod. J pod has 28 members which include the oldest female and the oldest male of all three pods; J1 (Ruffles b. 1951) and his mom J2 (Granny est. b. 1911).  Ruffles was definitely hamming it up today. Every time we looked out………………there he was. Then he would dive and come up with another group. At one point, quite unexpectedly he showed up right next to the boat. He then turned around and swam right alongside the boat upside down! He is a massive orca; 28 feet and 13,000 pounds. To see that much whale swimming upside down in the water alongside the boat is pretty impressive! We stayed for as long as we could, a couple of hours and then headed home. On the way home we stopped to look at a grey whale carcass that had washed up dead on Samish Island last April. It was towed to the west side of Lummi Island where a necropsy was done. The necropsy was done on April 14^th, and now there are only bones left. The eagles, turkey vultures and crows have been feasting. (They will all eat carrion). This grey whale was 38 feet and possibly up to 20 tons. What a great day! Sunshine, orcas and the beauty of the northwest!

 

All photos taken with a 350x zoom.

On Friday, July 9^th we had one of the greatest whale watching days. Today we had a repeat. Arriving in Boundary Pass, where the U.S. Canadian border is, we came upon J pod and some of the L’s. They were travelling fast and quickly turned south at Turn Point. It seemed as though they were on a mission. As soon as they hit Haro Strait, though, the play started. They first started with spy hops. Then there was a lot of tail slaps; another mile and the breaching started. The further south they went, the more active they became. We followed along for 8.2 miles and with each mile the Orcas seemed to explode with energy! J27 (Blackberry, male b.1991) and his little brother J39 (Mako b.2003) were some of the whales that we identified. They are an inseparable pair since their mom died last year. Blackberry has been taking good care of his little brother. We watched one juvenile breach six times in a row as it swam along with mom and family. There was a group in the distance with some very little ones; J35 (Tahlequah b. 1998) with her first calf born this year and her mother J17 (Princess Angeline b. 1977) who had her third calf last year. As with all Orca families, they are a tight knit group. The family bonding with Orcas is life long. J1 (Ruffles est. b. 1951) along with his mom J2 (Granny est. b. 1911) were also there with her granddaughter J14 (Samish b. 1974) and her four offspring. Her youngest calf is just a yearling. The J 16 group was also identified; J16 is ‘Slick’ with calves ranging in age from nineteen to three years of age. What a day for seeing babies! At one point, we looked behind us, and there were another group of whales coming!  It just didn’t seem to end and no one wanted it to! Another fantastic day! Also spotted were the usual: harbor seals and harbor porpoise, numerous birds and a great view of a bald eagle.

A beautiful sunny day, but still a bit chilly. They say that if you don't like the weather in the Northwest, just wait ten minutes!  We headed through the middle of the islands, with a stop at Boulder Reef to see some 'rock sausages' hauled out (harbor seals). As we went through Pole Pass, there was that Great Blue Heron again. I pointed it out at the beginning of the season and it has been there in the same exact location and the same position all season. I think it must be a 'pine' subspecies! As we headed west on the north side of Stuart Island, there was a fog bank blanketing Haro Strait and all islands beyond. We went right into it and there were the whales! It was J pod. We had two nationally known country singers on board. They had told us that if they sang high C, it would attract the whales. Now, how did  sisters Jamie and Minnie Murphy from Nashville know this? As they stood on the bow singing high C notes, the J16 group (Slick and her four calves) turned and headed right towards the boat. They were lined up and swimming fast! Now, were they chasing fish, or coming towards those beautiful voices singing 'high C'?  I'll leave that up to the passengers to decide. We watched a few breaches, spy hops and fish chasing. It's kind of eerie when we are surrounded by fog and Orcas. They suddenly will just appear out of the fog and be in the front of the boat breaching. The only thing we can do is just drift and watch. We finally turned back toward the sunshine and our way home. The fog was starting to lift and we could see the shoreline of North Pender Island, B.C. Canada. The orcas like to chase the fish here into the underwater cliffs. It makes it a lot easier to catch them, rather than just open water. They use their echolocation (sonar) to 'see' the fish. Their watery world has poor visibility, and if they were to rely on just their eyesight, they would be some hungry Orcas! We saw some more harbor seals hauled out on Puffin Island, and there were many harbor porpoise in Rosario Strait. We don't slow down to look at harbor porpoise because they are boat shy. Birds: marbled murreletts, pigeon guillemots, a bald eagle, rhinocerous auklets, cormorants, gulls, and that 'Great Blue Heron'!

Friday July 16^th, 2010

Our Captain Don made the right call today……he headed north up the west side of Lummi Island. When we were almost to the north end, we received radio calls from Canada. The Canadian boats were up north and reported no Orcas! This is a wide expanse of water; the Strait of Georgia. It can be very hard to spot whales sometimes. Anyways, we decided to head west and turned and went through the middle of the islands. A beautiful scenic route, but possibly ‘whale-less’. Just as we going through Pole Pass, we heard that there were Orcas up north and they were heading south. Decisions: it was a long way from our present location and they could turn around and  go back up north. We decided to go for it!  We arrived to find some of J and L pods. They were mainly foraging and heading south. We followed along for awhile until it was time to go. We didn’t have as much time as we wanted to spend with the Orcas, but sometimes this is just the way it goes. They are living in their natural environment and wherever and whatever they might be doing while we are out watching, is what we get to see. Just to see these magnificent animals in their watery world, if only for forty five minutes is still sometimes just enough. Other sightings: harbor seals, harbor porpoise and birds. (See previous reports).

 

Today found us in Haro Strait again. This time we were off of Henry Island to the north of San Juan Island. There was J pod and some of L pod. We watched them for awhile as they foraged and headed north. Then all of a sudden the activity began! There were multiply breaches, spy hops, cartwheels and somersaults. The change in behavior was so sudden, as if a light switch had been turned on. Perhaps they were full and done feeding and now it was playtime! We watched for the next hour or so and then had to head for home. As we started our engines and turned north to get ahead of the whales, they turned south. Someone in their pod (probably J2, 99 year old Granny) gave the word and all thirty something whales abruptly turned south. Orcas are a matriarchal society, meaning that the females call the shots. It is the oldest female in the pod who has the memory and knowledge of the area. Females can live to be up in their 70’s, 80’s and even 90’s. Males are not as long lived. J1 (Ruffles est. b. 1951) is the oldest male in all three pods (J, K and L).  Most males only live to be in their forties and the average female lives to be about 65 to 70. We took the picturesque route home through the middle of the islands. Whenever we can, we prefer this route, as it goes right through the middle of the islands with great views and narrow passes. We also saw harbor porpoise, a sea lion, harbor seals and many birds (see previous reports).

Today we headed north and stopped along the way to look at some harbor seals on Clement’s Reef. Then we turned west and headed to Haro Strait. On the southwest side of San Juan Island J and K pod were milling around and foraging. It was quite different from yesterday. Yesterday, it was breaches and spy hops. Today there was not much above surface activity. Instead, as we drifted slowly with our engines off, the whales came to us! We (by law and whale watching etiquette) stay 100 yards away from Orcas. However, if they come up to the boat, we are supposed to stay in position with our engines off or in neutral until they pass. We had some very close passes by J26 (Mike b. 1991) and J21 (Cappuccino b.1986). These are some very large adult males.  When they swam alongside the boat, we could clearly see their immense bodies and black and white markings under the water. Male Orcas can get up to 28 feet and 13,000 pounds. We don’t always get this view, as the water visibility can be very poor at times. What a special treat today! We had some passengers who had come out with us yesterday. They enjoyed themselves so much that they came out with us again today. They had two completely different whale watching experiences and said both were fantastic. They were lucky to get to see the whales up close, and yesterday to see all of the acrobatics 100 yards or more off the boat. Every day is a unique experience. We also spotted harbor seals, a swimming sea lion, (we prefer to see them hauled out on the rocks, but they have their own agenda), and harbor porpoise. Birds today were: bald eagles, marbled murrelets, pigeon guillemots, rhinoceros auklets, cormorants (pelagic and double crested), and numerous gulls.

Friday July 9^th, 2010

We had the most fantastic day of whale watching this season! As we were travelling north towards Point Roberts, we had to do a fast turn around, because the whales were behind us and to the east!  There were so many whales and they were so spread out in the large body of water called the Strait of Georgia, that while we were heading to a group spotted north, we passed a small group of Orcas to the east of us. We stopped and looked around and there were whales everywhere to the east and north spread out for miles. Two other mainland U.S. boats arrived and we were the only three boats on the scene. The whales had been heading south, but they changed their direction and started heading back up north. They were taking their time because there was a lot of ‘play’ happening. I don’t think we’ve seen this many breaches, cartwheels, somersaults, and all other types of acrobatics in a long time. Every time an Orca would breach, they would repeat this for three to seven times! There were several simultaneous breaches’ that were synchronized between two whales as if they had been rehearsing. We were with L pod, which has 42 members. We later heard that most of J pod were further north where the Canadian boats were. We were able to stay with the whales for a long time, because we didn’t have to go very far north. L22 (Spirit b. 1971) was one of the groups with her sons L79 (Skana b. 1989), his name means ‘supernatural power’ in the Haida language), L89 (Solstice b. 1993) and her little brother L87 (Onyx b. 1992). These are all adult males with 5 to 6 foot dorsal fins and weighing thousands of pounds. A male orca can get up to 13,000 pounds and 28 feet. Females are considerably smaller at 22 to 24 feet and 6,000 to 8,000 pounds. There was another group with L94 (Calypso b. 1995), her first calf born 2009, her big brother L41 (Mega b. 1977) and their sister L77 (Matia b. 1987). Matia had a calf earlier this year, but it has not been seen for awhile. If an orca is not seen with its pod, it is assumed dead, since they never leave the pod that they are born into, male or female. They stay with their mom and family their entire lives. We had to have seen almost a hundred breaches today. The whales were very active above the surface, which makes great whale watching for us. When we are watching, we usually only see 95% of their activity, because the rest is all underwater, but not today! Other wildlife we saw: harbor porpoise, harbor seals, eagles, and many birds (see previous reports).