CWR encounters J pod near Spieden Island

EncSummary: The team had received reports of a spread-out group of whales headed west through Spieden Channel. As these whales were nearly out of Spieden they were confirmed as southern residents, so the team geared up and headed out at 12:30.

The team found the whales between Battleship and Stuart Island, northbound. The team could see multiple tight groups in the distance, but the first whale they encountered was J27 foraging on his own, which is his usual behavior. The team moved north towards the Stuart shoreline, where they found J44 and J38, initially spread but eventually coming together to socialize. Just offshore of these two was a tight, social group of females and youngsters: J19, J31, J35, J36, J42, J46, J56, and J57, with J22 nearby but not mixed in with everyone else. The team saw signs of allokelping and general social behavior. Eventually, J41 popped up in the middle of this group, and J47 came in from the south to join as well.

The team moved to the southwest, where they saw a few more blows in the distance. They found J45 babysitting his niece J63, along with J pod’s other youngster J62. The two calves stayed close together, rolling and surfacing in unison. The three whales approached the research vessel, and J45 continued east while the two calves briefly circled the team. The team stuck with the two calves as they headed north, and soon spotted J40 coming from the south to join up with her calf. These whales soon met up with J58, who joined in with the two calves’ play.

The team saw another tall fin to the west, and briefly headed that way to photograph J39 as he sped north. The team then turned back south to photograph any stragglers that they hadn’t yet seen. They found young males J51 and J49 socializing together before J51 broke off to head towards J58. The team then moved northeast, just north of Turn Point, hoping to find new whales, but instead found J31 and J56 again, who had apparently broken off from the females they had been with to forage. J22 and J38 foraged just to the south of them. J38 took a long dive and moved west, over towards J49. The two males stopped to chase fish in the same area, though it quickly became clear they were each chasing their own fish.

It was getting late, and the team was getting ready to head to the fuel dock, but planned to photograph any stragglers on the way back. They found J44 again along the Stuart shoreline, and J27 was still foraging on his own, far behind everyone. The team ended the encounter at 15:28 between Gooch and Mandarte.