CWR encounters J and L Pod off San Juan Island

EncSummary: The team received early morning reports of a large, spread-out group of whales southbound in Rosario Strait. Getting off the dock at 9:05, the team headed down the west side of San Juan Island, aiming for the south end of Rosario Strait. At 09:43, just east of Salmon Bank, the team saw a large group of whales heading steadily towards them. They soon heard calls echoing through KCB III’s hull, which told them this was indeed a group of southern residents.

The whales the team could see were spread into a few groups, moving quickly west towards the south side of San Juan Island. The first group the team paralleled was the J19s and J35s, all tight together. Offshore of them, the team found J16 and J26, with J42 nearby. Following closely behind them were the J14s, including J pod’s youngest member, J63, traveling with her mom, J40. The J22s, who have consistently been around the J14s in the last few encounters, were nearby. Offshore still were the J31s travelling with J31’s brother J27, J53 with J44, and J36 way offshore on her own.

The team received a tip from a nearby vessel that there were other whales, likely Ls, inshore of J pod. The team worked their way back inshore and soon saw several whales heading their way. These whales were in two tight groups, with the lead group being the L55s and the rear group being the L47s, L86s, L72s, and L90. After a few minutes of observation, the team watched L91 and L122 break off from the main group to hunt, with L91 successfully catching a salmon.

After a couple of drone flights and photo ID passes, the team left the Ls for a bit to see what the Js had gotten up to. They found J pod quite a ways offshore, where they had grouped up and were in a tight resting line. After a brief look at the Js, the team saw that the Ls had made a sharp turn to the west. Thinking they might be on their way out of the area, the team caught back up with Ls for a couple of final ID passes as they headed towards Discovery Island.

By this point, the Js were far to the southeast of Ls off of South Beach, and had split up into a few smaller groups. The matrilines seemed to mix and match a bit; J40 and J63 were accompanied by J40’s brother, J45, along with unrelated young females J53 and J56, while the rest of the J17s were in a loose resting formation with the J16s, and the J22s swam alongside the J37s.

The whales started waking up and getting more social, and the team watched the J19s start allokelping. J62, still less than a year old, seemed to still be getting the hang of it. She wasn’t quite able to get the kelp wedged between her body and her mom, and a couple of times tried to use an intact kelp stalk with the bulb and blades still attached. Later, the team saw all three J37s allokelping together in a line: J59 in front of J37, and J37 in front of J49. The team wrapped up with the encounter off Pile Point as the whales headed back down island at 16:01.