Chainsaw!!

T-63 aka Chainsaw

It is quiet on the water this morning.  Departure is at 0930.  We have 30 passengers from Boulder, Colorado, 26 of which are middle school students who have been studying marine biology during the school year!  The last sighting of Orca whales was 9 p.m. last night.  No one has seen them this morning.  Yet.  Our hopes are high.

Leaving the dock we slip up San Juan Channel to the north.  When the last boat left the whales last night, they were headed  north.  We are one of the first boats out this morning so now to keep a sharp eye out, binoculars at the ready, listen carefully to radio chatter and think like a whale!

By 11:30 we are searching the coast of Saturna Island in Canada.  No whales.  The tide is high.  No seals hauled out.  We do find several groups of Harbor porpoise diving in deeper water.  With fog lifting our visibility gets better and better.  At Boiling Reef a few Steller sea lions are hauled up, waving their massive heads back and forth and letting go with loud roars. In the midst of all that noise loud barking sounds replace the roars.  Four California sea lions are in the middle of the Steller sea lions trying for a space of their own.

With our thoughts still on finding J pod, who we were lucky enough to be with yesterday, we take a last look across and up Georgia Strait.  We will look for five more minutes, and then it's time to turn around.  Suddenly Captain Nate points to shore!!  He is smiling...really smiling!  Whales!  And as it turns out, not J pod whales at all.....but Transient killer whales.  And not just any Transient whales, but...a whale I have been hoping to see for years!

Chainsaw and a T-65 whale cruise past Tumbo Island

My jaw drops open!  What a remarkable fin and here I am, right now, looking right at it!

Our passengers catch the excitement of the entire crew and rush to the side decks and bow.  Cameras snap, breaths catch with each surfacing and blow.

Today Chainsaw, who has a recorded birth year of 1978, travels with four other whales, the T-65's.  One of these whales, T-65B has a very definite nick at the base of her dorsal fin.

T-65B(1993) in the lead

I'm not sure "who" the other whale with her is as I don't get a good photograph or look at the saddle patch or a close up of the fin.

T-65B and....????

Once again, time on the whale clock speeds by.  We are already way past out turn around time.  We escort the "starts of our trip" back around the reef where all the seals and sea lions are hauled out.  There is a little foraging action by the whales, but generally they start west in Boundary Pass.

We stick with Chainsaw a little longer as we are all heading toward home now together.  Finally we have to turn south....everyone smiling about our luck.

By the end of the day, yesterday's whales have gone unreported!  Where could they be?  While it's always great to see "old friends"....it's AMAZING to make  new acquaintances....especially when you least expect it!

Fluke wave....goodbye?

So, with rain predicted all week, the fog lifts by 11:00 and the sun pokes out for the afternoon.  With Resident whales appearing yesterday they prove hard to find, and we literally stumble across Transients.  The Transients turn out to be very special!  And since we are the first boat to spot whales today we are deemed "Heros of the Day!"

Hard to beat a day like today!  But, then....

One last look....what a guy!

They're Baaaccckkkk! Southern Residents Inbound!

There is NOTHING like this phrase coming over the marine radio:  "Whales!  Inbound...maybe...20 of them!"  This is especially true this time of year when everyone waits and waits for the Southern Resident Killer Whales to return to the Salish Sea.  It sounds like today is the day!!  Oh...and it's MY day to work!

Inbound in the Strait of Juan de Fuca can mean a lot of things.  It does mean east bound....which is toward San Juan Island.  That's good.  But it can mean up to 60 or 70 miles away!  Today it means coming toward the San Juans from Victoria, B.C. which is about 20 miles away.  The tide is about to turn to a flood and perhaps that will pull them toward us too.   All the elements seem to be coming together for a great whale watching adventure.

It's a long run, but the sea is flat, the rain holds off and soon Vancouver Island is in clear view.  And something else comes into view too.  J-27, an adult male in J pod surfaces in the calm water.  Hello, Blackberry!  It's so good to see you again!

Orca whale coming our way!

Soon Blackberry passes by with his younger siblings keeping him company.

J-27, Blackberry and J-31 Tsuchi, J-39, Mako

I love watching these three swim together.  Mom passed away in 2008 when Mako was only five.  Blackberry (1991) and his sister, Tsuchi (1995) have kept a close watch on Mako (2003).  Looks like these three made it through the winter just fine!

My eyes scann the water for more whales I can recognize.  Another large male fin appears and Doublestuf surfaces.  He is often with his mother, J-22, Oreo, little brother, J-38, Cookie (2003) and cousin, J-32, Rapsody (1996).

J-34, Doublestuf (1998)

Another group of six members of J Pod are also here.  Princess Angeline, J-17 (1977) is near her daughter, J-28, Polaris (1993) and her grand-daughter, J-46, Star (2009).  Another daughter, J-35, Tahlequah is there with little J-47, Notch (2010), and J-44, Moby(2009) another calf of Princess Angeline!  This group is lively with three adult female mothers and three spry Orca youngsters. Three and four year olds know how to do lots of things....including spy hops (peek-a-boo?), chin rolls, tail slaps and sometimes a quick game of "catch up to mom!"

Little one turns around..."Hey!  Where is everybody?"

Following behind mom...with a chin roll!

Notch follows mom (check out notch on trailing edge of dorsal fin)

Follow the leader?

Big tail slap by shore from adult male

Soon it seems it's time for the baby games to wrap up and there is some serious swimming ahead.  The entire family comes together as a group and starts to head toward Haro Strait.  This is the water that seperates Canada and the United States.  The males give a few gigantic tail slaps as they pick up speed. The youngsters join in with some slaps of their own.  Boats and whales move together away from shore and out into more open water, the smaller family groups swim together toward San Juan Island.

J-28, Polaris in the lead here.

Sadly, it's time for us to pick up the speed too and head for San Juan Island. Why does "whale time" once again pass so quickly?   I can't keep my eyes off J Pod as they cruise across Haro Strait.  They're Back!  Welcome home friends!  May you feast on many many salmon as you grace the Salish Sea with your presence.

Blackberry and Doublestuf in familiar waters....May 15, 2013

Humpback on Holiday?

Massive fluke!

 Fluke UP.....Whale DOWN!  What an afternoon as we traveled in the company of this Humpback whale.  Our trip took us into Canadian waters today.  We spotted the other whale company boats first, but soon enough the blow alerted us to a lone Humpback moving north at the top of Haro Strait.

Blow hole(s) to the right, dorsal fin to the left.....and the rest beneath the surface

 Remember you are only seeing a part of this whale.  The blow holes are on the very top of the head, and feet in back of the mouth.  The small fin is at the beginning of the long tail stock.  Could it be only 1/2 of this massive whale is visible?  Or less?

Dive!

Somehow 45 minutes passes like seconds.  I am always amazed at how "whale time" just disappears on the clock.  This whale takes deep dives lasting five to 8 minutes,  surfaces for three or four breaths, and  disappears beneath the surface.

Humpbacks are not frequent visitors to the Salish Sea, so every opportunity for observation time is special.  The Humpback is a migratory whale and in this part of the world it means they use the cold Alaskan waters for summer feeding grounds and travel to Hawaii for winter breeding and calving season.  A few just seem to make a little stop off by swimming in the Strait of Juan de Fuca for a visit, before completing the long journey, in the Spring to Alaska, and in the Fall to Hawaii.  There is also a stock of Humpbacks that move toward Mexico for the winter and to Alaska for the summer.

Although we don't know "who" this visiting whale is or which stock it belongs to, we enjoy the company of a species not often seen in these waters!

Fluke-Fall...Water Fall!

These Harbor seals are the only seals hauled out on the rocky shores today.  When the tide is high, most of the seals disappear into the water.  Luck is with us!

Watching us....while we watch you....

Nose to next buddy's flipper....

No Orca whales in the neighborhood today....but a Humpback on holiday...what a treat!