CRW logs two encounters with two eco-types

EncSummary: After receiving reports of whales just south of Edmonds, the team assembled at the Edmonds marina and left in “KCB3” at 0910. It was a little breezy but we saw whales out mid-channel almost immediately and the encounter started at 0916 after we got north of the ferry lane. We originally started to head offshore to the whales seen more mid-channel but then saw some whales right outside the Edmonds Harbor. We saw a few females and a J39 sized male, but they were in a pretty intense sun glare. We set up for this group north of the ferry lane and got the drone in the air. Three females passed us not too far away to the east of us. We were expecting members of J pod but then we definitely had a “wait a moment” moment while looking through our camera lenses. The whales were not J pod at all but Bigg’s, and we quickly identified members of the T36/T36Bs and T137s as they headed north in a loose group. These Ts had been down in the south sound for a while so we weren’t surprised so much that it was them as we were at how close they were to J pod who were spread out foraging mid-channel. The T36s and T137s must have been quietly sneaking by close to shore as they made their way north towards Saratoga Passage. Since the project was focused on SRs, we ended the encounter with the Ts right there at about 0920 to head to J pod (see Encounter 72-2).