J 16s with 2 calves, J50 & J52,  tucked in Photo by James Mead Maya

Photo by James Mead Maya

Photo by James Mead Maya

J51 with Mom J19 Shachi and Sister J 41 Eclipse Photo by Connie Bickerton

Orca watchers, here's your latest update on tagged orca L84. March 30--The previous update on 24 March found the whales northbound just south of Cape Blanco, Oregon. They continued north and by the 26th they were off Tillimook Bay in northern Oregon and by the 28th they were off Grays Harbor, Washington. There they turned south, and as of this morning (30th) they were off the Columbia River Northwest Fisheries Science Center 2015 Southern Resident Killer Whale Satellite Tagging

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Magical encounter with J-pod off Victoria Photo by Val Shore

J pod Photo by Val Shore

J Pod Photo by Val Shore

We were incredibly fortunate to have caught up with J Pod again just south of Discovery Island. The day was glassy calm and warm - very out of the ordinary for March, but we're not complaining! We were also able to spend some good quality time with J2 Granny... At an estimated 104 years of age, she was acting quite spunky and spending a lot of time rolling around with J38 Cookie (born in 2003). She appears vibrant, healthy, and not a wrinkle on her! Must be all those Omega-3's in that lovely salmon...
Katie Jones

J2 Granny near Victoria, BC Photo by Katie Jones

J34 DoubleStuf and L87 Onyx swimming side by side near Victoria, B.C Photo by Katie Jones

L87 during encounter with J Pod near Victoria, BC Photo by Traci Walter (taken w/300mm lens and cropped)

Either J34 Doublestuff or L87 Onyx near Victoria, BC Photo by Traci Walter (taken w/300mm lens and cropped)

J34 Doublestuff and L87 Onyx near Victoria, BC Photo by Traci Walter (taken w/300mm lens and cropped)

Today I had a fantastic encounter with J pod, including both new calves - J50 and J51! The pod was in resting formation, but L87 Onyx and J34 Doublestuf were happily causing a ruckus on the side as the rest of the group 'slept'. We were with the group from Constance Bank, near Trial Island, to Race Rocks.
Marcie Callewaert

J51 and family Photo by Marcie Callewaert

J Pod Photo by Marcie Callewaert

J pod Photo by Capt. Hobbes Buchanan

J Pod Photo by Capt. Hobbes Buchanan

Scenes from encounter with J Pod, including J50, J51 and Granny, J2...and the Olympic Mts. Photo by James Mead Maya

11:13am - Still hearing vocals and echolocation on OrcaSound
Gayle Swigart

11:00am - started hearing echolocation on Lime Kiln
10:28am- There is a lot of echolocation on OrcaSound hydrophone at the moment! And just now a J call. Hearing and L...probably L87 Onyx
Alisa Lemire Brooks

9:00am - 15-20 whales swam by our home this morning... heading west down Speiden Island. The sights and sounds were awesome! Photo by Janet Jorve

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I'm hearing them on OrcaSound, last call at 11:18.
Jacqueline Slaughter

10:01am - J pod on OrcaSound!
Gayle Swigart

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Ti'lem I'nges J49, a male born in August of 2012, spy hops. Photo by Melisa Pinnow Melisa's March 24 encounter report

I was blessed to see two Orca close to shore (20-40 feet away) at East Sooke Park (S. Vancouver Island, BC) this morning. I only got one decent picture as they went around a point. By the time I could get to the trail that ran along the shoreline, they were gone. I waited in the area for a couple of hours hoping they'd return but it didn't happen. A magical experience! Photo by Karen Kehler

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In search of J pod today (they were heard on the Orcasound hydrophone), some friends and I headed up Trincomali Channel and randomly found T124C! We then headed down Sansum Narrows for fun and found the T101's and T124A's, who then led us down Saanich Inlet! What a day!!
Melisa Pinnow

2:31pm - Moments ago, a pod witnessed from our home above Brighton beach (just north of the Clinton ferry dock). The playful group breached and fluked between our home and the south tip of Hat. A few boats were witnessing same. The pod welcomed spring with their playfulness.
Marty Beert

5:00pm - Sighted 4 Orca whales in Discovery Bay off of Beckett Point.  This is my second sighting of these whales in the past 3 weeks. Very unusual to see them in Gardiner. It looked like 3 adults and one younger, I think feeding as they were diving and seemed to be moving in circles.
Terry Wood

11:52 With the Biggs orcas headed northbound at Point no Point (Kitsap). Photo taken by Peter Hanke/Puget Sound Express.

5:45pm - My husband and I spotted 6 transient orcas off the Oregon Coast at Boiler Bay. They were a half mile from shore.  We watched them for an hour and a half during that time we saw them attack and feast on two sea lions.  We are volunteers for the Whale Watching Spoken Here Program and spent March 21  - March 28th watching the migrating gray whales.   We have been on several whale watching trips out of Bellingham to see the magnificent orcas.   Today was the most spectacular whale watching we have ever encountered.    The deliberate and calculated behavior of the orcas was phenomenal.  In addition to attacking the sea lions we watched them breach, fluke slap, head lung and gracefully surface to breath.  There was 1 calf among the 6 orcas we saw this evening.   After we left Boiler Bay we went south to Depoe Bay to see if we could see them going by, we spotted them just north of Depoe Bay and watched them swim south and beyond the buoy markers at Depoe Bay.    We last saw them going south around 7:30 pm.  
 I have included some photos in hopes that you will be able to identify some of them.      
Have a wonderful day!
Kent & Edith Hitchings

Transient orca off Oregon Coast by Boiler Bay Photo by Kent & Edith Hitchings

Transient orca breaches off Oregon coast by Boiler Bay Photo by Kent & Edith Hitchings

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Received a call from commercial crab fisherman Guy Lee, reporting a pod of orcas - 5 adults and 1 calf - about 7 - 10 miles from the harbor at Halfmoon Bay, CA. The calf was breaching, and they all came close to the boat, and Guy said they saw chunks of what looked like sea lion or some kind of marine mammal meat/blubber floating in the water.

We just received a call from Meg at 3:50 pm, reporting a pod of ~4 orcas ~6 miles outside the harbor at Halfmoon Bay, CA, today.

Jill Hein (Volunteer Naturalist)