Wednesday, July 2, 2014

7-2-14 A Game Changer Day

Wednesday, July 2nd
...I heard a J pod call!...out the door and to the park...expecting to see the same whales who had been in here for a few weeks now...NOT!
...she came zooming by...my brain said, "who's that?"...duh...K POD is HERE!

...my view finder is lousy for checking images, so I didn't look...the whales were coming across from Discovery Island...not many came past the light...and a few minutes later they turned and came back down island...Marina L-47 and Mystic L-115, the J14s, and of course Granny J-2 who was the leader over the hydrophones (I'd guess) because she was now the trailing whale and from watching there didn't seem to be any changing of the layout...
...a while later I heard that there were some K pod whales spotted, so still not knowing who I had seen in the morning...here's Polaris J-28 and Star J-46 at the lighthouse while Whitney, who is assisting Dr. Bob Otis with his data gathering, was getting photos of the whales too...
...and then Spock K-20 surfaces just off the rocks and right behind her was her first offspring, Comet K-38...
...Scoter K-25 was farther off shore but I managed to get one image of him...
...out on Maya's Westside Charters in the afternoon, we meet the whales just outside of Snug Harbor..there were four groups...they were all going north...
...the last group, the L pod whales, turned around and came back down island late in the afternoon passing by Lime Kiln...that's the corner of the lighthouse on the right side of the image...
...a special moment for her - such full absorption...it didn't seem to matter that other humans were present...it seemed that it was just her and the whales...a most special connection was made...
A lovely way to end a day.

...and the other whales?...they continued to head north...now to see which way will they come back down...

...with K pod showing up today...they arrived several days before their
'deadline' of July 8th...no nail biting this year to see if they make it or not :)
...with K pod showing up today...it's a game changer...someone will most likely go out...

1 comment:

Elissa said...

Special moment for sure... It was great meeting you Jeanne and hearing all your knowledge of the whales you admire so much. My husband and I hope to return to San Juan someday, possibly to stay. It's a great escape from the restless world we live in. To be surrounded by nature, greeted in the morning with the sights and sounds of orca, that is what life should be filled with.
You have a treasured life and I'm sure you realize how blessed you are! Say hello to the whales for me. If you ever see Ocean Sun again this season, please snap a shot of her for me. She's always in my thoughts.
Elissa and Matt