6-22-14 Dorsal Fin Slaps by Jade L-118

Saturday, June 21st
...the L pod whales (I call them 'The Blackjacks' because there used to be 21 of them - you know the card game)...they had split off from J pod yesterday...
...well this morning they came up island...

...for a while that is...then out on Maya's Westside Charters in the afternoon we went down island to see the whales...Tucker and his crew were out...

...we were surprised by two humpbacks traveling in close to shore...

...we watched a group of the L pod whales in and around Eagle Cove...it appeared they were moving some salmon in one direction...or they were finding what they could and would then get it into the center of them...
...at one point there was an 'after that salmon' type lunge and a few more at the surface...

...then all were down for a while...when they surfaced they began to move up island...I had noticed one of the younger ones doing a lot of dorsal fin slaps...I have seen dorsal fin slaps before but this time there seemed to be a purpose to them...mainly because there were so many and there wasn't any play behavior that I could see on the surface...then later as they began traveling, Jade L-118 was doing them again...and this time it seemed to be fun as others in the group were 'being wiggley' too...

...Capt. Jim put in the portable hydrophones...we heard these funny squeaky sounds...then when I got home and listened to what I had recorded over the Lime Kiln hydrophones...well, there they were again...same calls, different locations and different times...

...the whales did become playful as they moved up island slowly...

...well, a few L pod whales got almost to the light before turning around and going back down island...
...where was J pod today?...they were east...then north...then northwest...
...they'll be down tomorrow...it's just trying to figure out which side and when - Ha!