bannernewblack    

Orca Network 

Whale Sighting Report  
In This Issue
Photo of the Day
Southern Residents.
Transients/Bigg's Killer Whales
Humpbacks
Gray whales
Minke whales
Find a wide range of books related to orcas at the Orca Network Amazon store.
Orca Network recommends:
The Lost Whale, by Michael Parfit and Suzanne Chisolm  
An intensely personal story...but this person is a young orca.  

Lost Whale book...ver scaled  

 To learn more about orcas: 

Orcas in Our Midst, volume 3, by Howard Garrett

Orcas in Our Midst,

Vol. 3: Residents and Transients, How Did That Happen?

Click here  

to order YOUR copy!

~~~~~~~~~~~~

The bestseller about orcas in captivity.

Death at SeaWorld, by David Kirby 

DeathatSeaWorld


Quick Links

Orca Network Facebook Page

Sightings page with Map & Archives
 

Click here

to learn about L pod

orca Lolita/Tokitae,

captured in Penn Cove,

Whidbey Island, WA

in 1970, somehow surviving in a small tank at the Miami Seaquarium ever since.

Tokitae looking up at us from her tank in Miami, FL in the late 1990s 

Sign up for our 

Whale Sighting  

or Free Lolita

Email Lists


Click Here to Join
July 7, 2014

We are watching and visiting the whales in their home~

Please observe, love and respect them from a distance.

Having trouble viewing this Sightings Report? Archived Reports can be found HERE.
J pod, K pod and most of L pod continue to forage and frolic all around the San Juans, presumably finding sufficient fat Chinook salmon among the first of the record run of sockeye projected to return to the Fraser River from now until September. Orca echolocation is able to distinguish between species of fish and can pick out a Chinook among thousands of sockeye.

Speaking of Chinook, recently on KING5 news Ken Balcomb described the historical trends that show an overall decrease in Chinook year over year, leaving Southern Resident orca hungry in times of scarcity.

Transients have also been encountered, separately from the residents of course.  And we've been hearing about, and seeing the photos of, humpbacks, minkes, and even gray whales.
Photo of the Day

Spent Sunday evening with J's, K's and L's at the South End of San Juan Island between South Beach and Salmon Bank. Here are probable sisters L27 Ophelia and L86 Surprise! with Surprise!'s son L106 Pooka.
Photo by Connie Bickerton, July 6, 2014.
Southern Residents
July 7
4pm - Orcas on the phone again at Lime Kiln Park.
Christopher Porter

July 7
3:30 pm - Orcas off of Watmough Head on Lopez.
Debbie Holtman Galbraith

July 7
3:30 pm - Lime Kiln!
James Gresham

July 7
3:18 - Great calls on Lime Kiln again!
Rachel Haight

July 7
10:24 - Whales on Lime Kiln hydrophone....
Christopher Porter

July 7
9:20am - We've got some voices on Lime Kiln! Just a few calls every minute or so.
Danielle Vance

July 7
8:40am - Sweet sounds of echolocation can be heard on the Lime Kiln Hydrophones right now!!! One of the sweetest sounds I've heard all summer with very little background noise! Incredible!!!!
Jay Schilling

July 7
8:28 - Lime Kiln hydro. Very nice. No ship noise.
James Gresham

July 7
8:05 am - calls starting up on LK.
Selena Rhodes Scofield

July 6
Orcas seen in Haro Strait ...travelling north. Taken between 2:05 to 2:20pm from the boat "La Mer."
Sherrie Stahl
Photo by Sherrie Stahl, July 6, 2014.

Photo by Sherrie Stahl, July 6, 2014.

Photo by Sherrie Stahl, July 6, 2014.

July 6
4:27 - The whales were spread out for miles along the south and west sides of San Juan Island today. We stayed with the southern group. K Pod members way outside. Had them all to ourselves and got some great close approaches by Cappucino, Opus, Sonata. Tika and Sequim.
K21 Cappucino.
Photo by James Gresham, July 6, 2014.
K16 Opus cruising in liquid glass. Near Salmon Bank.
Photo by James Gresham, July 6, 2014.

July 6
11:15 am - They are on LK. Distant.
James Gresham

July 6
We saw resident orcas between Smugglers Cove and south to the San Juan Island County Park boat ramp today from 11:30am-1pm ish.
Michelle Borsz

July 6
A large resting group ... my absolute favourite way to see them (maybe after a large cuddle puddle ...). 20+ fins at the surface in synchrony, it is hard to explain the stirring nature of the sight. Cuddle puddle: what happens sometimes when the whales are in big groups and being very social tactile with one another. They will just hang out, barely going anywhere and just rolling over each other and rubbing up against each other. It's beautiful!!!
Tasli Shaw
Kpod and half of Jpod resting together.
Photo by Tasli Shaw, July 6, 2014.

Kpod and half of Jpod resting together.
Photo by Tasli Shaw, July 6, 2014.

Kpod and half of Jpod resting together, pretty much pasted to each others' sides.
Photo by Tasli Shaw, July 6, 2014.


L118 Jade breaches next to mama L55 Nugget this morning at Lime Kiln.
Photo by Monika Wieland, July 6, 2014.

Photo by Sara Hysong-Shimazu, July 6, 2014.

July 6
9:15 - Terrific vocalizations (and echolocation) on Lime Kiln hydrophone now. orcasound.net
Sara Hysong-Shimazu

July 5
The story of the coolest thing that happened yesterday, the only time it's happened to me anyhow! So we're heading down to these resident orcas in the morning and can see the pile of whale watch boats still a mile or so off, when we come across Onyx all by his lonesome. So we pause and watch him for a couple minutes, then slowly tiptoe out of range and pick up a little bit of speed to go join the other boats and whales ahead. I was on the back deck talking about Onyx to the only 4 passengers who were back there, because we could still see him surfacing way behind us. All of a sudden, two whales exuberantly pop up just behind and to the side, surfing the boat wake! It was J37 Hy'Shqa and J49 T'ilem I'nges. I holler at the captain to cut the engines, and he complies immediately, but as we drift to a halt, the wake continues and the orcas keep porpoising along in it. They slowed right down with us and then surfaced beside us twice as if to say, 'why'd you stop? that was fun!' Were they just playing? Or using us to catch up with the other whales ahead? Didn't get much of a photo of the surfing, of course, with a long lens on + *SURPRISE!*/too much glee to function. The boat was already shut down and drifting when this first shot was taken.
Andy Scheffler
T'ilem I'nges slapped his tail a couple times, and then they moved on, continuing in the same direction we had been going.
Photo by Andy Scheffler, July 5, 2014.

Then they moved on, continuing in the same direction we had been going.
Photo by Andy Scheffler, July 5, 2014.

Hy'Shqa is hanging out right on top of the wave. The boat was already shut down and drifting when this first shot was taken.
Photo by Andy Scheffler, July 5, 2014.

Reverse VWW logo impersonation. HOW are these colours even possible?! Momma and son - J16 and J26.
Photo by Andy Scheffler, July 5, 2014.

July 5
I just saw my first ever greeting ceremony by the southern resident killer whales. J, K, and L Pods all circling, breaching, surface vocalizing, spyhopping etc etc and all within view of our boats!! Everyone came out, shut our motors off and just watched in awe as some of the most spectacular, magical, and social behavior that we have ever seen unfolded before our eyes. Probably the best day of my life
Heather MacIntyre

Another EPIC day out there. EPIC, I SAY! Superpodage and all the goodness that goes along with it. Here's J16 Slick, J36 Alki, and J42 Echo nuzzling each other right before the great meet-up.
Photo by Katie Jones, July 5, 2014.

Little J49. Could this kid get any cuter?
Photo by Katie Jones, July 5, 2014.

July 5
3:30 - dispersed orcas traveling slowly west past Flint Beach on the south end of Lopez Island.
Tom Reeve

July 5
This afternoon starting around 1:30pm 18 - 21 orcas greeted us on the south side of San Juan Island just as we headed north into Haro Strait. Looked like orcas from J, K & L pods. I counted 3 juveniles, 1 calf, 10-12 females and 4-5 males in all. Playing and traveling spread out a bit then coming together. One female breached repeatedly, as well as one of the juveniles breached twice, once completely clearing the water. Some tail lobbing also observed. It was truly amazing as they kept appearing and coming in close as we bobbed along. An amazing sight!
Brittany Foxley

July 5
Oh, THERE the Residents are! Members of all three pods showed up on the west side (around noon)! Here's a huge breach from K20 Spock, one of three she did in a row. Many more photo highlights later including a whale with a fish and some K-Pod close-ups. Despite the drizzle it's been a great day at Lime Kiln! At 7:15 this morning 4 transients made their way north in Haro Strait, then from noon til 1:30 members of all three Resident pods went north, then south, some of them quite close to shore.
Monika Wieland
One of the K-Pod close-ups from this afternoon at Lime Kiln - I just love the reflections in this photo of K34 Cali!
Photo by Monika Wieland, July 5, 2014.
K20 Spock.
Photo by Monika Wieland, July 5, 2014.

July 5
1:43 - OMG. And I dont say OMG that easily. Amazing pass just now- whales heading south close to shore (Hannah Heights, ~5 miles south of Lime Kiln State Park), rolling, mating, breaching, tail lobs--- water totally flat and their blows were like one of the best story board soundtracks on earth. WHAT A SATURDAY!!!
Sandy Buckley

July 5
12:17pm - calls on Lk under the boat noise.
Selena Rhodes Scofield

July 4
One of the best Fourth of July's ever! Got to spend some time with K Pod (along with some J's) on the west side of San Juan Island. These guys were spread out intermittently, doing what they do best: fishing for Chinook Salmon! The Chinook Salmon is what these whales prefer to eat, they're actually rather picky. They eat about 200-400 lbs of it per day depending on the size of the whale. The Chinook is the biggest of the salmonids out here, and is very rich in omega-3 fats. The salmon smell their way from the Pacific ocean up to their natal stream-bed. There must finally be enough Chinook in this area for K Pod to make the roughly 80 mile swim into the Salish Sea from the Pacific Ocean. Who knows how long we'll have them here for, things aren't as they used to be with the salmon population, so I'll enjoy them while there here. Happy Fourth everyone. Feel free to share- for more information on the issues facing our salmon watch Salmon Confidential.
Heather MacIntyre
K26, Lobo, born in 1993. This big guy was on the move fishing today. However, he made sure to exercise his curiosity and cruise past us ever so slowly, leaving us with all with a feeling of peace and wonder.
Photo by Heather MacIntyre, July 5, 2014.

K26- Lobo. This guy is definitely one of those "mamma's boys" I'm always telling you guys about. K14 (Lea), Lobo's mom, lost her first two offspring early on, so rumor has it she was very protective over him. She eventually had two more calves after Lobo, but the two are often seen traveling in close proximity. On a side note, Lobo means wolf in Spanish. Killer whales are often thought of as ' the wolves of the sea'.
Photo by Heather MacIntyre, July 5, 2014.

J28, Polaris, born in 1993. Her mother is J17, Princess Angeline, born in 1977 and one of the first births recorded, and now grandmother to Polaris's five-year old J46, Star.
Photo by Heather MacIntyre, July 5, 2014.

10:45 - K-Pod's back! They returned on July 2, but my first chance to see them was this morning. Here's K12 Sequim off of Lime Kiln. J-Pod group A went north early this morning, between 9 and 9:30 part of K-Pod made it up to Lime Kiln this morning, flipped and went back south.
Photo by Monika Wieland, July 4, 2014.

July 4
Orca behavior/communication. As J and K pods crossed Haro Strait yesterday they were in quiet resting pattern, swimming slowly in tight groups. As they approached San Juan Island, K pod matriarch K 12 Sequim (pronounced Squim for those not in WA), stopped and began slapping her tail forcefully. The others responded by becoming more active and spreading out into a hunting pattern as they entered the area frequented by the Chinook salmon that they feed on. I love watching the behavioral intricasies.
2:44 - J and K pods. False Bay area headed north towards Lime Kiln.
7:00 am. Whales on Lime Kiln!
James Gresham
J 28 Polaris on the left with her mother J 17 Princess Angeline.
Photo by James Gresham, July 4, 2014.

K 22, Sekiu.
Photo by James Gresham, July 4, 2014.

K 22's son, Tika K 33.
Photo by James Gresham, July 4, 2014.

J and K pods were intermingled in quiet resting mode when we met them headed across Haro Strait towards San Juan Island. Identical scenario to last Saturday except last week it was J and L. Here K 26 Lobo on the left swims with a couple J girls.
Photo by James Gresham, July 4, 2014.

Photo by James Gresham, July 4, 2014.


L87 doing a funny surface, sticking his dorsal and back out but not his head or blowhole. You can see his face just below the surface.
Photo by Tasli Shaw, July 4, 2014.
Beautiful light in Rosario Strait. J37, J41, J40, J19. J14.
Photo by Tasli Shaw, July 4, 2014.

July 4
9:10 loud echolocation!
6:38am on Lime Kiln started hearing faint calls over ship noise, now (6:55) loud calls. Selena posted hearing them as early as 5:17am.
Alisa Lemire Brooks

July 4
7:23 a.m. PST - Faint calls on Lime Kiln Hydrophone.
Kara E. Clayton

July 3
Orcas in south Haro strait everywhere! I was out with Puget Sound Express and J pod as well as K pod were having fun, eating, and moving incredibly fast. We saw them from 11:15 to 12:45. It was a sight to behold, as it always is.
Dianne Dee Iverson

Normally I would trash a photo like this but since it is Racer, and she has my favorite saddle patch out of all the residents, I decided to keep it. She popped up right beside us today, the engine was shut down and we were just sitting there.....exciting!
Photo by Selena Rhodes Scofield, July 3, 2014.

July 3
10:30 - Word from CWR is that Js and Ks are headed down San Juan Island and are probably around Eagle Point by now, and the L pod members are heading back out to sea somewhere near Race Rocks.

July 3
9:02 AM - they seem to be getting louder, more frequent and clearer!
Debbie Stewart

July 3
8:42 - excellent Resident orca vocals and echolocation on Lime Kiln hydrophone.
Alisa Lemire Brooks

July 2
The orcas were very spaced out, but we continued to motor north with them to Turn Point on Stuart Island. The group we were lucky enough to see were the J-16s and the J-22s. The J-16s are composed of Slick (J-16), Mike (J-26), Allki (J-36), and Echo (J-42). The J-22s are the famous "cookie clan", composed of Oreo (J-32), Doublestuff (J-34), Cookie (J-38), and Rhapsody (J-32).
Aimee, Naturalist, San Juan Safaris Whale Watching

July 2
It took K Pod a while to return to the San Juan Island, but they finally came home and surprised us all early morning! When I first got on seen around 11:00 I didn't know what was happening! There's so many dorsal fins- this isn't just one pod, I kept thinking. I started doing the math and narrowing down individual whales. It wasn't until I saw K21, Cappuccino, with his distinct dorsal fin and saddle that I finally made the call- K Pod was definitely here. The day Islanders, whale fanatics, naturalists, etc have been waiting for this spring- summer: our first super-pod of the year! Members of all three pods were intermingled throughout the strait up the west side. However, as they started to go north, they all entered into a resting pattern and split up into smaller family pods. When I left them later that day, K Pod was slowly swimming up Swanson's Channel. What an exciting day! Everyone in K Pod was accounted for, but no new calves. I can't wait to get back out there tomorrow ...
Heather MacIntyre
Here we have members of L and J Pod including L72, L105, L93, L95. The J16's, J22's, and J27 were also traveling with this group.
Photo by Heather MacIntyre, July 2, 2014.
This big guy sure has grown!! L92, Crewser, first seen in May of 1995. He still may have some growing to do yet!
Photo by Heather MacIntyre, July 2, 2014.

July 2
K POD IS BACK! Yesterday I zoomed out to the lighthouse because I had received word the orcas were moving north in that direction. When I scrambled out onto the rocks and looked south I could see blows everywhere. Some were a bit far out, there was lots of activity and some of the blows were way inshore! I thought to myself, "This is going to be good!" As the first group of orcas began to pass, this handsome fellow popped up. I had to re-check my camera screen to make sure I wasn't making a mistaken ID, but sure enough, it was K26 Lobo! K POD IS HERE! It was a steady parade of exuberant orcas for about 25 minutes and members of all three pods were present (we are still missing a couple of families in L pod - one of which has not made an appearance yet this summer). Really exciting stuff and I can't wait to see what today brings.
Katie Jones
K26 Lobo.
Photo by Katie Jones, July 2, 2014.

Members of J Pod and L Pod playing in the kelp in front of the lighthouse at Lime Kiln Point State Park last Saturday. This behavior is believed to be part of their culture, similar to the rubbing beaches the Northern Resident Orcas frequent. All photos taken from land.
Photo by The Whale Museum. June 28, 2014.

Photo by The Whale Museum. June 28, 2014.

Photo by The Whale Museum. June 28, 2014.

Transients/Bigg's Killer Whales
July 7
9pm - several orcas travelling east to west past south Lopez Island. Almost missed seeing them as the tell-tale whale watch boats weren't around at this hour.
Sally Reeve

July 7
7:20 PM - Orcas sighted off Southwest of Rosario Beach, Northest of Smith Island. Spotted a group of four or five orcas between Rosario Beach and Smith Island. Looked to be one male and three females. They were heading southwest toward Smith Island. They appeared to be traveling at a steady rate. They did not change route or pause for antics, but rather traveled. The male was about 300 yards south of the females. The orcas were too far away to determine identities. One male and two females with one juvenile.
Chanel Giles

Anyone want to guess these ID's? 5 total...1 male, 1 young one... the rest looked female.
Seen from Landbank 7/6 approximately 4:30'ish.
Photo by Cher Renke, July 6, 2014.
Josh McInnes: Nice to see T060C and T060F. T060s are my favorite family.

July 5
Words can't really describe today's trip. I'm in my eighth season and this ranks as one of the best I've ever had. We chased a report of whales up by Nanaimo and was lucky enough to find them around Thetis Island. The T124A's, T137's and T077A were heading south towards Crofton. They stopped at a reef on the way and battered a seal around and then celebrated like CRAZY!! We have had a few encounters with the T137's when T137A breaks off the group and comes over to check out the boat and he did the same thing today except breached right behind us. Anyways....words can't say enough so here are some pictures.
Gary Sutton
T124A2 bellyflop!
Photo by Gary Sutton, July 6, 2014.

T137A broke off from the group and came right over and breached beside us.
Photo by Gary Sutton, July 6, 2014.

July 5
Transients eastbound at Constance Bank.
Josh McInnes
My first glimpse of the water this morning including this tall dorsal fin in the distance! I thought at first it must be residents off of Lime Kiln, but instead it was a family group of transients making their way north in Haro Strait. I was out there for a few hours while the sunshine faded to rain, but no more orcas came by.
Photo by Monika Wieland, July 5, 2014.

Humpbacks
July 6
2:23 PM - Humpback spotted in Spieden Channel, taken from boat, "La Mer".
Photo by Sherrie Stahl, July 6, 2014.

Photo by Sherrie Stahl, July 6, 2014.

Photo by Sherrie Stahl, July 6, 2014.

Near Sooke.
Photo by Sooke Coastal Explorations, July 3, 2014.

11:00 AM - Humpback sighting / north end of Pender Isl. Today as we were heading from Ganges back to Roche Harbor, our home port of "La Mer", we spotted a humpback whale...I was able to get off 4 shots before it dove.
Photo by Sherrie & Bob STAHL, July 3, 2014.

June 20
8:40pm - Belatedly reporting -- South sound humpback from Anderson Island ferry departed Steilacoom. Distant view of one humpback traveling north along the Steilacoom waterfront from north of Ketron Island to near the entrance to Chambers Bay. Traveling north -- 3-4 breaths then dive (showing back and flukes) then same again a few minutes later.
Scott Redman
Gray whales
July 4
Gray Whale calf. Apparently this calf and its mother have been around for a couple days. Baby Grays are not something seen here. I'm sure they took a detour up Juan de Fuca Strait during the northward migration. Both the mother and calf were keeping a very low profile. Swimming just under the surface and barely showing themselves. The Transient Killer Whales in this area are not Gray Whale specialists and who knows if mom even knows about them. But to get this far the calf had to survive Monterey Bay Ca where it is a very different story. A very unexpected sighting.
Photo by James Gresham, July 4, 2014.

Minke whales
We were sitting there watching the orca when suddenly this little Minke whale popped up at very close range.
Photo by James Gresham, July 6, 2014.

July 6
11:22 - Maia of WA State Ferries reported a minke whale near Pt. Caution, San Juan Island (2-3 miles north of Friday Harbor).
ABOUT ORCA NETWORK  
Orca Network is a 501 c3 nonprofit organization, dedicated to raising awareness about the whales of the Pacific Northwest, and the importance of providing them healthy and safe habitats.
Orca Network's Whale Sighting Network involves citizens in helping researchers track the movement of whales, and encourages people to observe whales from their homes, businesses, ferries, and beaches.
Whale reports are sent in to our Sighting Network and emailed out to researchers, agencies, and citizens on our network, and posted on our website (MAP of sightings also on website). Whale reports and observations are sent in by a variety of sources, and Orca Network does not guarantee the accuracy of any report or whale identification.

 

TO REPORT WHALES, CALL: 1-866-ORCANET (1-866-672-2638), email info@orcanetwork.org, or post sightings on our Orca Network Facebook page.

 

*BE WHALE WISE! BOATERS - NEW FEDERAL REGULATIONS IN EFFECT AS OF MAY 16, 2011:

 "The new rules prohibit vessels from approaching any killer whale closer than 200 yards and forbid vessels from intercepting a whale or positioning the vessel in its path. This doubles the current approach distance of 100 yards. The rules go into effect May 16 and apply to all types of boats, including motor boats, sail boats and kayaks, in Washington"

 

For more information on the new Federal Regulations, visit the NOAA Fisheries website. 

 

 
To report harassment of whales in US waters, call NOAA Enforcement: 1-800-853-1964;

In Canadian waters, call DFO's Observe Record and Report (ORR) Violations Hotline: 1-800- 465-4336

Report the boat name &/or a description of the boat, & get photos if at all possible.