Posts Tagged ‘L pod’
Friday, August 31st, 2012
We had a fabulous trip to the south side of San Juan Island today. Sunny skies and calm waters in the Strait of Juan de Fuca made for incredible whale watching! After seeing several harbor seals cruising through Cattle Pass, we encountered the Steller sea lions on Whale Rocks. At least ten were lounging in the sun. As we headed into the strait, we saw several members of the resident L-pod actively feeding offshore of South Beach (48°26N, 123°00W). First we saw members of the L12 matriline, including L41 “Mega”. He was switching directions and slowly coming to the surface. At one point he rolled on his back and slapped the water with his pectoral fins and tail. It looked like he was doing the backstroke! We also saw L94 “Calypso” with her calf L113 “Molly”. “Molly” was very active, splashing, rolling, tail-slapping. L77 “Matia” was also spotted with her calf L119 born earlier in 2012. After observing these special mammals, we headed back to Friday Harbor. So thankful for another day to see these orcas in the wild.
SJS Naturalist Jenny
Tags: Cattle Pass, friday harbor, Harbor Seals, L pod, Orca whale, san juan island, Southern Resident Killer Whales, Steller Sea Lions, whale watching near seattle
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Sunday, August 26th, 2012
Today we were watching a variety of wildlife on the south side of San Juan Island. We observed between 10-15 members of L pod that were spread out south of False Bay and heading to the southeast (48°25.25N, 123°05.87W). Five to six orcas were surfacing in a tight-knit group. Three other individuals were at least 500 yards away to the south and east, but traveling in the same direction. One orca breached twice; what an incredible splash! We believe we spotted the L85 “Mystery” in the group, and two-year-old L116 with mother L82 “Kasatka”. After spending some time observing these large mammals we passed by Whale Rock to see 17 Steller’s sea lions relaxing under partly sunny skies. Two bald eagles were looking out over the water for their next meal; one was near its nest on Long Island, the other on Turn Island. We caught glimpses of harbor porpoise and harbor seals too! Great day to be on the water.
SJS Naturalist Jenny
Tags: Bald Eagle, Harbor Porpoise, Harbor Seal, L pod, Orcas, san juan island, Steller Sea Lions
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Monday, August 6th, 2012
Exciting day on the water! Leaving the harbor under rainy skies, we traveled north around San Juan Island. Happily, the skies dried and the sun soon came out just as we caught up with members of the Southern Resident Killer Whales in Haro Strait. Traveling along the west side of Stuart Island and milling in the Turn Point area (first sighted at 48°40.67N 123°14.92W) were: Onyx (L87), along with Slick (J-16) and her calf, Echo (J-42), Mike (J-26) and Alki (J-36). Our next sighting include Granny (J-2) along with Tsuchi (J-31), and Mako (J-39). The orcas were active and didn’t seem to be in any hurry to leave the area. Plenty of shots of tails waving, pectoral fin slaps and the occasional spy hop. On the way back, we heard a rumor that there might be a new calf in J Pod?
Shelly and Tara, Naturalists for San Juan Safaris
Tags: Bald Eagle, Bald Eagles, Cactus Islands, friday harbor, Harbor Seal, Harbor Seals, Haro Strait, j pod, killer whales, L pod, Orca whale, orca whales, Orcas, San Juan Channel, san juan island, San Juan Safaris, Southern Resident Killer Whales, whale watching near seattle
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Saturday, July 28th, 2012
We had calm seas and a bright sunny day, perfect for wildlife watching! We departed Friday Harbor heading south, stopping to view harbor seals in the water and hauled out, as well as a bald eagle perched high in the tree tops. There were more seals around Goose Island, plus cormorants, gulls, and a large stellar sea lion playing in the bull kelp. Then, around whale rocks we saw three massive male steller sea lions hauled out on the rocks. One even started growling! It was awesome to hear.
Not much further south, between Lopez and San Juan Island we spotted three killer whale dorsal fins. It was the K-13’s. Not too far from them was a large male, who we recognized as L-87 or Onyx. The whales started traveling along the west coast of the island. We got spectacular views of them, especially when one spy hopped! They were spreading out along the coast, giving us the opportunity to see whales all over. As they continued on, we turned back and took another look at whale rocks, where six steller sea lions were now soaking up some sun. We realized one was a juvenile male who was significantly smaller than the others. What a beautiful afternoon with lots of wildlife!
~Kristen, Naturalist, San Juan Safaris
Tags: Bald Eagle, friday harbor, Harbor Seals, K Pod, killer whales, L pod, Lopez Island, Orcas, san juan island, Steller Sea Lions
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Monday, July 23rd, 2012
Lots of wildlife today! First we saw about a dozen harbor seals just south of Friday Harbor, hauled up on the rocks. Then, at whale rocks we came across some pelagic cormorants, more harbor seals, plus a huge male stellar sea lion, a very rare sight for this time of year!
Continuing around towards the west side of San Juan Island, we came across at least seven killer whales. Both members of J and L pod were around. We identified L-86 “Onyx,” J-16 “Slick,” and L-92 “Crewser.” The whales were milling about, not in a hurry to go one direction or the other. We had amazing views of their white saddle and eye patches, especially when one orca spy hopped, bringing its head out of the water!
We then continued to circumnavigate the island, slowing just outside Roche Harbor where we saw a harbor seal aggressively foraging for food, two bald eagles, a great blue heron, and a turkey vulture! Not a bad way to end an amazing trip.
~Kristen, Naturalist, San Juan Safaris
Tags: Bald Eagles, friday harbor, Harbor Seals, j pod, killer whales, L pod, Orcas, san juan island, Southern Resident Killer Whales, Steller\'s Sea Lion
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Friday, July 20th, 2012
In my post yesterday, I mentioned how I could not find words to describe how amazing our Orca encounter was. Well, surprisingly everything that I said yesterday can be applied to our afternoon trip today! There was another super pod of killer whales, but we didn’t realize this right away.
We departed Friday Harbor heading north, and did not have to travel far. We caught up with three killer whales just on the north side of Henry Island (48°36.720’N 123° 12.300’W). We watched for a while before seeing blows off in the distance. Three, four more killer whales were in the area. They changed direction, so did we. Then, all of a sudden we saw at least twenty dorsal fins slice through the surface of the water, all less than a body length from each other! We also noticed there was a large group near shore. The sky was full of their misty exhalations. I got to see my second greeting ceremony in two days when the two large groups came towards each other. They seemed to synchronize their surfacing as they lined up. But, as they met I saw something different from yesterday: the whales circled each other once before moving off in the same direction they came from! It was spectacular!
All in all there were at least thirty whales, from all three Southern Resident pods. Again, they were being very active, lob tailing, breaching, and spy hopping. It was difficult to identify individuals since fins and saddle patches were everywhere, but we were able to distinguish J-27 Blackberry, J-14 Samish, L-87 Onyx, L-86 Surprise, and K-21 Cappuccino out of the wave of dorsal fins in the groups. Plus, cheery on the top of the trip was being able to view three bald eagles, soaring in the sky, as well as harbor seals (plus pups!), muflon sheep, and fallow deer.
~Kristen, Naturalist, San Juan Safaris
Tags: Bald Eagles, Fallow Deer, friday harbor, Harbor Seals, henry island, j pod, K Pod, killer whales, L pod, Mouflon Sheep, Orcas, san juan island, Southern Resident Killer Whales
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Friday, July 20th, 2012
On last night’s sunset cruise we caught up with two groups of about 20+ Southern Resident Killer Whales headed south in Rosario Strait between Cypress and Blakely Island (48°34.46N, 123°46.05W). They hadn’t gone far since the greeting ceremony earlier that day, but you could tell the excitement had worn on them. They appeared to be resting, moving at a steady pace in unison, only coming up for 3-5 breaths before taking long dives.
From what we had identified, it was members of L-pod including Onyx (L87), Gaia (L78), and Crewser (L92). We watched them rest for a while, but they must have sensed our curiosity because eventually they spruced up, spyhopping, swimming on their sides, waving their pectoral fins, and lobtailling.
The setting couldn’t have been more perfect to embrace these animals. With Mt. Baker glowing in the background, the sun setting, and only 2 other boats around, it really felt like it was just us and them.
Naturalist Tara, San Juan Safaris
Tags: blakely island, L pod, orca whales, san juan island, Southern Resident Killer Whales, whale watching near seattle, whale watching tour
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Thursday, July 19th, 2012
I cannot even put into words how amazing, awesome, exhilarating, and fun this afternoon’s trip was. Seriously, words cannot describe the whales, but I’ll do my best share this experience. We left Friday Harbor heading east with reports of whales in Rosario Strait. This is the first thing that made today special; typically we travel north or south of San Juan Island, not east between the islands which is absolutely beautiful on a clear, sunny day like today.
We reached the whales at 48° 36.73’N 122° 44.88’W. At first we spotted a large group of probably ten or more killer whales, but as we looked around, there were several large groups. Dorsal fins were slicing through the water’s surface everywhere! Big ones, small ones, sizes in between! We were witnessing a super pod; members from J, K, and L pods were present, at least twenty, if not thirty whales. We watched as the whales spread out horizontally and started swimming towards each other: a greeting ceremony! The whales then split into two groups. Both groups were active. You name the behavior, we saw it. They were spy hopping, lob tailing, pectoral slapping, cartwheeling, back diving, and yes, BREACHING! One small whale breached six or seven times in a row! Additionally, we heard their vocalizations both above water and underwater via the hydrophone, as well as their distinctive blows from either side of our boat.
All this activity in tight groups made it difficult to identify individuals (honestly, there was so much to watch I forgot about trying to figure out who we were seeing), but Tara and I were able to ID the super distinctive 35 year old male L-41, Mega, as well as L74, Saanich. Plus, the whales were not the only wildlife in the area; we also spotted a bald eagle and harbor seals resting on Peapod Rocks. I know this sounds amazing, but this post still does not do justice to the absolutely spectacular trip it was.
~Kristen, Naturalist, San Juan Safaris
Tags: Bald Eagle, friday harbor, Harbor Seals, j pod, K Pod, killer whales, L pod, Orcas, Peapod Rocks, san juan island, Southern Resident Killer Whales
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Wednesday, July 18th, 2012
We had a very exciting and full-of-wildlife day! We departed Friday Harbor heading north into Canadian waters. Before seeing the main event (killer whales) we spotted about five or six harbor porpoise just north of San Juan Channel. Not long after we saw one dorsal fin, then another, then three more! There were about eight to ten southern resident killer whales, traveling close to each other. They were moving north along Pender Island (48º 36.54’N 123º 04.94’W). We watched as three whales spy-hopped, one after another, followed by a full, body out of the water, breach! The whales then moved close to shore, slowly diving and surfacing. In this group naturalist Jenny and I were able to identify members from both J and L pods, including L-72 Racer, J-27 Blackberry, J-28 Polaris, L-25 Ocean Sun.
After watching the whales, we motored around Stuart Island and spotted a few nesting cormorants on the rocky cliff near Turn Point. Also included in our trip home was a great look of Spieden Island where the non-native, but oh so cool muflon sheep and fallow deer were grazing, bald eagles were flying over the island and perched in a few trees, and eight harbor seals were hauled out of the water near the shore, including three mother pup pairs! Finally, just before getting back into Friday Harbor, a guest spotted another bald eagle. Definitely not our average Wednesday out on the water!
Kristen, Naturalist, San Juan Safaris
Tags: Bald Eagles, cormorants, Fallow Deer, friday harbor, Harbor Porpoise, Harbor Seals, j pod, killer whales, L pod, Mouflon Sheep, Orcas, pender island, San Juan Channel, san juan island, Southern Resident Killer Whales, Spieden Island, Stuart Island, Turn Point
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Sunday, July 15th, 2012
What I love about living in a rain shadow is that the weather tends to clear up in the afternoon, just around the time we reach whales. Today was one of those days. We departed Friday Harbor at 1:30 pm in a hazy fog, heading south. Expecting at least some rain, we all suited up in our yellow rain slickers, binoculars in hand. There were a few harbor porpoise, but what was super unusual were the two huge, male Stellar sea lions hauled out on Whale Rocks! We typically see these sea lions in the fall and spring, but not during their breading season which takes place in Alaska.
As for killer whales, they were everywhere! We came across a few females swimming south around 2:40 pm at Eagle Cove. At this time, the fog and any indications that there would be rain vanished, providing us with amazing visibility. The whales then changed direction and we caught up with both J and L pods. It seemed that you could look off our boat in any direction and see dorsal fins. Among the many whales around we identified J-8 “Spieden and L-92 “Crewser.” They weren’t traveling in any one direction, just socializing outside False Bay. Plus, we not only got amazing views of their bodies from some breaching and rolling over, but we dropped our hydrophone into the water and heard some amazing vocalizations as well! Definitely one of my top 3 trips of the season!
~Kristen, Naturalist, San Juan Safaris
Tags: friday harbor, Harbor Porpoise, j pod, L pod, Orcas, san juan island, Southern Resident Killer Whales, Steller\'s Sea Lion
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