Whale Report
By Jeanne Hyde, Orca Adoption Program Coordinator and Volunteer Naturalist at Lime Kiln Point State Park

October is usually a month when orca sightings diminish.  However, this year has been extraordinary!  It has been super-pod galore the last few weeks.  The whales follow their food source and when you hear of salmon jumping out of the water and people actually seeing the whales chasing salmon, well that must mean something!

For the last month the whales would come into the Salish Sea for a day or two and then go out the Strait of Juan de Fuca toward the open ocean.  Just once this fall they have gone into Admiralty Inlet, near Seattle. In past years it was common for them to spend quite a bit of time in the fall in Puget Sound.  Late one Friday in early October, all three pods were spotted in the Strait of Juan de Fuca heading in toward San Juan Island.  They traveled north in Haro Strait, along the west side of San Juan Island in the dark of night.  The next day they were seen near Spieden Island coming back south.  They ‘stalled out’ a couple miles north of Lime Kiln Park and the lighthouse.  It was a cold, windy, blustery day. A half-dozen hearty folks stood at the lighthouse waiting for the whales.  ‘Eagle Eye’ Alison could see the whales’ blows from two or more miles away, and after what seemed like forever, their fins began to appear.  We could also see breaching and porpoising, lunging, and spyhops happening everywhere you looked!  The activity was electrifying! Three whales, each displaying different behaviors - breaching, tail lobbing and lunging, were out of the water at the same time.  It was amazing!  It was very difficult to identify any of the whales because the ocean swells were   large with lots of white-caps and the whales were not close to shore.  Observers did, however, get a look at Moonlight (L-83) and her calf L-110.  This little one, just two months old was lifting himself up out of the water as high as he could, sort of half way between a spyhop and a lunge.  He made it through his first stormy weather okay because he and his mom have been seen several times since then.  All along the west side of San Juan Island people were watching what seemed to be one of the most active pass-bys of the season and it was October!

In mid-October, an invitation to go out on a local whale watch boat to look for humpback whales was just too good to pass up. During the summer and fall, humpback whales from coastal Central America and coastal Mexico migrate north to the coast of California all the way north to southern British Columbia. The boat was going from Friday Harbor, San Juan Island to an area a few miles south of Victoria, British Columbia where several humpback whales had been spotted.  While on the way the captain got a call that J Pod was east of Victoria heading toward us!  Can you imagine the additional excitement onboard?!

As we approached the area where J Pod had been spotted, another whale watching boat was about two miles ahead of us.     Almost all the whale watchers’ eyes were focused in the direction of that boat, with the anticipation of seeing their first blow.  There was one pair of eyes, however, that was scanning the water and what do you know - more whales were seen just off our starboard (right) side of the boat!  The immediate thought was that it must be some of J Pod, but when looking through the binoculars we knew immediately that those were transient orcas and not the residents!  This was so exciting! There were two adult females and two juveniles moving at a slow pace to the east.  They were only about one mile ahead of J Pod.  The transients appeared to be in a resting mode making several shallow dives and then a longer five to six minute dive.  They did not display any hunting behavior during this time.

We waited as J Pod continued moving to the east, seemingly unaware of transient orcas so close by.  J Pod was grouped up, with about six to eight whales surfacing at a time. They were in their family groups with Slick (J-16) and her offspring Mike (J-26), Keet (J-33), Alki (J-36) and new calf J-42 in the lead. Surfacing with them were Shachi (J-19) her calf Eclipse (J-41), and Princess Angeline (J-17) and her youngest Tahlequah (J-35).  Polaris (J-28), Princess Angeline’s oldest offspring was not far behind.  The largest group to surface was comprised of Ruffles (J-1), Granny (J-2), Samish (J-14) and Suttles (J-40), Riptide (J-30) with Hy’Shqa (J-37). Spieden (J-8) surfaced with Blossom (J-11), Mako (J-39), Blackberry (J-27) and Tsuchi (J-31).  A few minutes later Spieden had moved over and surfaced with Granny and Ruffles.  Oreo (J-22), DoubleStuf (J-34) and Cookie (J-38) were toward the end of the group. The water was completely flat, the day was a bit overcast, and there was no wind. As they surfaced you could hear their blows - one after another as they breathed in fresh air.  Just as quietly as they surfaced, they dove again.  They would make several shallow dives and then a longer dive. The peace the whales convey when they are observed in this manner certainly causes the observer to feel peace…

…and it’s no different than the excitement one feels when there’s lots of action! It wasn’t long before that action began.  The transients, who are marine mammal eaters, ‘woke up’ and began to hunt. Shortly after the transients began hunting, J Pod ‘woke up’ and began to chase the transients.  Dave Ellifrit of the Center for Whale Research shared that they witnessed the transients moving fast, porpoising to get away from about nine J Pod whales who were chasing them north up Haro Strait, along the west side of San Juan Island.  The chase was short and J pod stopped and moved in toward the island, turning and heading back to the south.  When others heard of this encounter a question was raised: “Did J Pod not know the transients were ahead of them, until the transients starting hunting?”  Transients are stealth and after a kill they often become vocal.  Is that when J Pod detected  the presence of the transients?  (‘Food’ for thought.)  What began as a day of the unknown sure ended up filled with lots of whale sightings!

Even though Oreo, DoubleStuf and Cookie were off in the distance on that previous sighting, they sure gave us a good look when on October 20th a super-pod showed up again!  The day began with a call that whales were on the west side of the island.  When I arrived some had already passed-by the lighthouse, but still more were coming across Haro Strait from Discovery Island heading toward the lighthouse.  First seen were Raggedy (K-40) and Cappuccino (K-21). Seeing them indicated that K Pod was there; J Pod had been seen, but there was no word on L Pod.  Looking across the strait, seeing the number of whales approaching proved that yes, L Pod was definitely there too! Then an L Pod female was spotted with a calf.  Immediately I thought it might be Ino (L-54) but it wasn’t, it was Tanya (L-5) and a calf - but who?  Then Flash (L-73), Saanich (L-74) and Nyssa (L-84) were seen in a group. Indigo (L-100) was spotted not far behind Tanya and the calf.  Another female was about 100 yards away from these whales – it was Ino, the calf’s mother.  The calf with Tanya was Coho (L-108), Ino’s youngest offspring. Tanya appeared to be babysitting. Whew!

The whales continued traveling at a very slow pace.  They were definitely traveling north, but just how far would they go before they turned and went south again?  Once again I was invited to go on a whale watching boat.  Thinking that the whales would not turn south before dark, and because the whale sightings would be few to none over the next several months, I hopped aboard.  Oh, my, what an experience it was!  The water was choppy and the whales were spread out foraging.  Chatter over the marine radio indicated that there was an abundance of salmon in the area.  People were seeing salmon just under the surface with whales in hot pursuit!  Can you imagine?  The whales were spread out surfacing individually and in small groups.

Well, who did I see first?  None other that Raggedy, the same whale I had spotted several hours before as she passed-by the lighthouse.  She traveled on by us.  Not far from her were Gaia (L-78) and Grace (L-2).  The whales were constantly changing direction as they foraged for salmon.  Racer (L-72) and offspring Fluke (L-105) surfaced on our starboard (right side). Soon Spock (K-20) and her calf Comet (K-38) surfaced nearby.  As these whales and others foraged a few hundred yards from us, it became obvious that some gulls were after something on the surface.  The gulls would land on the water after Fluke or Comet dove, getting tasty bits of salmon.  Just before these calves would surface again the birds would take flight. One time Fluke surfaced with kelp in his mouth – oops, he must have missed that bite of salmon.

Other whales began to pass-by across the stern (back of the boat).  Two of them were Nugget (L-55) and Lapis (L-103).  Nugget’s youngest calf L-109 was later seen with older sister Kasatka (L-82).  Kasatka sure baby-sits this calf a lot!  Nugget’s sisters Ophelia (L-27) and Surprise! (L-86), with her offspring Pooka (L-106), were off the port side (left) heading away from us.  Nugget and Lapis then turned and met up with the others.  Then a few other whales began to approach.  The one approaching from behind the boat was Rhapsody (J-32).  Then Oreo (J-22) and Cookie (J-38) began to chase salmon.  A sprouter male was with them, who ended up being Wave Walker (L-88)!  There were a couple others with them who were not positively identified. These four to six whales chased salmon all around.  At one point someone yelled for everyone to look at the salmon swimming past the stern of the boat.  As I looked down into the water I could see Oreo just below the surface moving much slower than I would have expected.  What was the most amazing part of this observation was seeing another whale below Oreo.  This whale was on his/her side, because I could see the white body markings and the whale was not moving.  I imagined he/she was watching Oreo chase down the salmon.  It has been proven that the whales share their food, so maybe this whale was waiting for Oreo to share her catch.  I’ve never seen anything like it. It was definitely a new glimpse into the whales’ world.  That evening all three pods went south. Many listened to www.orcasound.net and got a great treat hearing the whales as they ‘chatted’ their way south along San Juan Island.

The next day they all three pods were seen heading into Admiralty Inlet, in Puget Sound.  It wasn’t long before all three pods made their way back north, heading, once again, toward San Juan Island.  They came as far north as Hein Bank, made a left turn and headed out the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Would they return again or was that it for the 2007 season? Well…

….it wasn’t the last!   On October 28th  all three pods were first spotted coming in the Strait of Juan de Fuca heading toward San Juan Island. When the whales reached Discovery Island they turned north heading toward Lime Kiln Lighthouse, however, they were spread from a quarter mile from shore to more than two miles offshore as they headed up the island.  I was on a research vessel, participating as a team member, photographing the whales. The first group of whales we encountered were Tanya (L-5) and her family group of Flash (L-73), Saanich (L-74) and Nyssa (L-84); and the family group of Ino (L-54), Indigo (L-100) and Coho (L-108).  Ophelia, Surprise! and Pooka were with them. The water was very choppy that afternoon and 18 month old Coho was putting on quite a display.  That may have been due to the large swells of the sea and the fact that they were traveling against the tide.  Coho leaped and lunged by his mother’s side with Indigo not far away.  The research team selected Nyssa as the whale to follow for the study.  As we began, Nyssa was traveling behind Flash.  After a short while all but Nyssa  moved in closer to the island; Nyssa continued traveling north.  At one point he began to tail slap, raising his tail high above the surface, lingering there for a few seconds then dropping it down with a splash. He repeated his ‘lingering tail slap’ seven times!

We then found a pair of whales and selected the younger of the two males - Nigel (L-95).  He was traveling with a teenage male, Lobo (K-26).  Lobo’s mom Lea (K-14) and brother Yoda (K-36) were seen up ahead with other moms and calves of L Pod - Moonlight and L-110 and Racer and Fluke. During the hour of observation of Nigel and Lobo, several times they took very long dives, maybe three to four minutes.  Each person took a section of the sea watching for these two whales to surface and also to watch for any other whales that might be in the area.  Just about every time they surfaced they would be behind us.  Toward the end of the observation time with Nigel, his buddy Crewser (L-92) showed up.  We departed from the scene at about 5p.m that day.  Later that evening only J Pod calls were heard over the hydrophones.  Where will they appear next?  We’ll have to wait…

That wait lasted until the day this month’s update was being completed (10/30/07).  Word came in that all three pods were seen near the Canadian Gulf Islands and were heading south…hum…so they had been north since October 28th, but no one had been able to find them….what another wonderful afternoon of encounters with the whales. But that the story will have to wait until next month!  Until then….

Whale Birthdays  Mike – 1st seen 11/2/91     Cali – 1st seen 11/01    Indigo – 1st seen 11/01
Aurora – 1st seen 11/02
First seen late in year      Cookie – 1st seen late 2002    Sonata  1st seen late 2002