J's on Lime Kiln hydrophone

May 24
Jeff Hogan called with a Lime Kiln acoustic alert. J's live on the hydrophones at 1:30 PM.

May 24
At 13:10 I was hearing faint calls on the Lime Kiln Hps.
At 14:23 still hearing calls and clicks on Lime Kiln Hps.
At 14:54 started hearing calls and clicks on OrcaSound Hps. Whales are obviously traveling North.
Thanks
Cathy Bacon



May 24
J1 Ruffles moves past kayakers, all looking the other way.
Photo by Marie O'Shaughnessy

May 24
We left J Pod going north at the Pender Bluffs yesterday at 7:00 PM. The should again be back today.
J 44 was having a great time strolling along with mom, J 17, and her family.
Capt. Jim

May 24
Hi Susan and Howie,
Tagging on to Jeff and Cathy's reports of calls on the HPs on Sunday. I was at LimeKiln and have posted a video clip of Samish J-14 and her three youngest - Hy'Shqa J-37, Suttles J-40 and baby J-45 as they spent time there. It was interesting that with all their activity there were more echo clicks than vocals. Was it a training session or just lunch time?
Jeanne

May 24
Sunny skies, calm waters.... Ahh, summer is finally here in the San Juans! And to make the day even better, we had J-Pod riding in the huge flood tide. When we were getting ready to leave the dock, we had a report that J Pod was at Constance Bank heading east, so we hoped they'd be somewhat close by the time we got in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. By the time we made Cattle Point, they were already along the shore of San Juan (must have been the 6 knot current speeding them along!) They were very spread out, making any ID's very hard, but I did manage to spot J27 near False Bay. For our second trip in the late afternoon, the whales had made a decision to head north, and we found the trailing whales near Stuart Island. This time however, things were different. The currents were almost ebbing, so the whales had slowed way down. We were lucky enough to find two good-sized groups traveling closely together, and not in a big hurry. Lots of spyhops, tail lobs, rolling on top of each other, and even a sea-snake! We were able to ID J16 Slick, J17 Princess Angeline, J22 Oreo, J27 Blackberry, J28 Polaris, J34 Doublestuff, J35 Tahlequah, J38 Cookie, and new calf J44. We watched the whales pass the Turn Point Lighthouse before heading home, full of smiles!
John Boyd (JB), SSAMN
Marine Naturalist, Western Prince