CWR logs encounter with inbound J Pod

||| FROM CENTER FOR WHALE RESEARCH |||

Full Encounter Report

ObservBegin: 10:55 AM

ObservEnd: 03:00 PM

Vessel: KCB III

Staff: Dave Ellifrit, Michael Weiss, Katie Jones

Pods: J

IDsEncountered: J16, J19, J22, J26, J27, J31, J35, J36, J37, J38, J39, J40, J41, J42, J44, J45, J46, J47, J49, J51, J53, J56, J57, J58, J59, J62, J63

LocationDescr: Haro Strait

EncSummary: After receiving reports of southern residents heading east close to shore and south of Victoria, the team scrambled and met at the boat. We left Snug Harbor at about 1030 and aimed for Baynes Channel. About halfway across Haro Strait, the seas began to get just a little bit sloppy. It calmed down somewhat as we got closer to Discovery, but became sloppy again in Baynes Channel with a 1-2 foot chop. Whales were sighted ahead of us east of the Chain Islets, and the encounter began at 1055 in Baynes Channel.

We had a large group of J pod heading east in a mostly tight group with a few individuals loosely spread out on the periphery. Whales present were the J11s, J14s, and the J22s, along with J46 and J53, and we did our best to take ID shots in the lumpy seas. Once this group was out of Baynes Channel, they took a line that would take them south and east of Kelp Reef. J27 and J39 dropped behind the others and were traveling together. By about 1115, we could see a few spread-out whales to the north and northwest of us, and this was the J16s. The J16s began oozing toward the larger group and by about 1130 were just on the western periphery of the group. J36 joined the larger group and was tight with them, while J16, J26, and J42 stayed loosely off to the side.

A little after 1200, the J35s and J44 showed up to the south of us in the sun glare. They stayed to the southeast of the main group and eventually began putting some distance from them as they crossed Haro Strait more on a line with the south end of Kellett Bluff. The main group passed Kelp Reef on the east side but turned a bit more north and stayed on the Canadian side of the strait. The J35s and J44 eventually crossed the border, and the water had calmed down, so we launched the drone for the first of three flights over them. These four whales headed north towards Henry Island with J35 and J47 in the lead and J44 following some ways behind. J57 was in between and was doing his best to catch up to his mom. J57 joined J35 along Kellett, and these two were seen doing a little scanning towards the bluff, but they apparently didn’t find anything. J47 moved offshore behind J35 and J57, while J44 moved almost half a mile offshore of him.

We could see whales from the main group on the far side of the strait, and we decided to go back to them to see if we could find the J19s, whom we had not seen yet that day. We headed back over to the Halibut Island area. Unfortunately, our big group had broken up and spread out. We saw a few various individuals we had seen before and had a close pass by J45, but it didn’t seem like the J19s were over here. We could see whales charging up mid-Haro Strait and then a few more spread-out whales even further ahead up towards Turn Point. We headed that direction, seeing J36 again on the way. We saw members of the J19s inshore at the point, and then J19 came up from a long dive nearby us. We got a good left side on her as she moved ahead and offshore of J41 and J62. J51 passed us on the sunny side of the boat, and he moved offshore to join J19. These two were milling and may have been foraging together. We then got photos of J41 and J62, who had just passed Turn Point. Behind these two, J42 was traveling by herself, and we got a good left on her, too. The last whale we needed to find was J58, and she was about a hundred yards to the east of and paralleling J42. We took a proof of presence shot of her and ended the encounter there at 1500, about halfway between Turn Point and Swanson Channel on the US side of the border.