Although our Southern Resident Killer Whales have started to spend more time in the South Puget Sound area in recent weeks, they still come cruisin’ near San Juan Island. All three pods were spotted in Haro Strait several times in November so far!
Firstly, Captain Nancy and Noelle were super excited about their last whale watch trip on the Sea Hawk, which was on October 29th. Noelle, Nancy, and guests on the Sea Hawk ended up encountering J-Pod off of Hein Bank! Noelle and Nancy identified J34, J22, J38, and J32. In addition to the orcas, they also had 2 humpbacks surface within 50yards of the Sea Hawk. One of these humpbacks in known as “Split Fin.”
Here is a quick summary of our November orca reports in the Haro Strait so far:
November 2, 2011: All Js, Ks, and Ls, except for matrilines L12s and L22s were spotted near Race Rocks heading east. Captains on the water with the whales estimated there were over 80 whales traveling together!
November 4, 2011: A mother & calf pair of humpbacks where spotted in San Juan Channel (closer to the Friday Harbor side of SJI). They calf was super playful and was breaching & making lots of noise.
November 5, 2011: We had lots of resident killer whales on the west side of San Juan Island, spread out south of Lime Kiln Lighthouse heading north. All of J-pod was there, as well as members of K & L-pods. There was also LOTS of vocalizations, clicks, and whistles on the hydrophone.
November 10, 2011: Busy day for both transients and SRKWs! A small group of Ks were spotted near Victoria, on Vancouver Island. These Ks (K16, K35, K40, K21) were spotted later in the day on the west side of SJI. There were also Transient orcas identified 10 miles south of Victoria that evening. We had reports of humpbacks and minkes, too!
November 12, 2011: J-pod, K-pod, and L87 were spotted off of Kelp Reef near Discovery Island. Earlier in the day, we had great vocalizations, including clicks & whistles, on the hydrophone, so it was just a matter of time before someone located our SRKWs.
Lastly, we had a very interesting wildlife encounter on November 7, 2011.
We heard a barking California sea lion on the Orca Sound hydrophones. It barked as it approached the hydrophone underwater, while right on top of the hydrophones and then as it moved on. It lasted about 10 minutes. Who would have thunk that sea lions bark underwater while they swim? Very cool!