Sat, June 14, 2008 8:10 am

Yesterday evening was one of the best! It wasn't a superpod, but it was spectacular. The Js and many of the Ls came together yesterday afternoon in the big waves off of Hannah Hts., and acted like a superpod. Jumping, rolling, spyhopping, the whole nine yards!

And then, right out in front of Snug Harbor, our dock, the amazing views continued for our 5:00 PM trip. I haven't seen so much porpoising in unison for years. Five and six at a time. Big wows from everyone on the boat, including me. We followed them all the way to Turn Pt. on Stuart Is. where they all passed between us and the cliffs and the light house and Mt. Baker. The sounds were amazing as we sat there with the engines off. Long after we could see them the sound of their blows came floating back to us over the calm waters.

Mon Jun 9 and Tue Jun 10 Updates

Mon, June 9, 2008 7:09 am
After spending the afternoon and evening way south of Victoria, the Js...Oh where oh where have the Ls and the Ks gone to?...came back on in and hit the Westside at dusk last night. (Thanks Sandy...)

Tue, June 10, 2008 10:55 pm
Late this evening I got reports of Js west of Sooke, coming this way. Good news for tomorrow! We had Transients for the afternoon and evening trip today.

Capt. Jim

Sun, June 8, 2008 9:46 am

What a wonderful day with the Js on the Westside, mostly right off our dock at Snug Harbor Marina. They were last seen at Turn Pt. headed up Boundry Pass.

And check out the news of the new K calf...See below - by Kelley Balcomb Bartok, Center for Whale Research

During the encounter a small calf was observed swimming in close proximity to sisters K 14 and K16, both reproductive age females. Later in the encounter staff determined that the calf was indeed a new calf in K-pod, and observed the calf primarily travelling very near K14 and her older offspring K26 and K36. The encounter ended at 3:58 p.m. (48° 41.81 N; 123° 14.51 W)
Kelley Balcomb Bartok, Center for Whale Research
See the new calf photo below, & more photos at the Center for Whale
Research
http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001njiVi8EzZRl6z5z9H3laRQFS0ruRa0Yl45f6fIrU_oFiN0fF9xwMEO36JFZExlYbpC_lqF31kbg7RUyW6N_dNljM7gGNnvqN8KfQRRRA9Nj5dGuB3uItcaUCoTKDSpAcoZAQ9e5

June 3 and 4 Updates

Tue, June 3, 2008 9:59 pm

What a day! All three pods for the first time in months. Js, Ks and some of the Ls went north late in the day, and about 20 of the Ls came south, yea, and we left them at 7PM off of Snug Harbor on the Westside.

Wed, June 4, 2008 4:41 pm
Js, Ks, and many of the Ls are coming south right now over near
Bellingham Ch. I don' think they will make it to the Westside much
before dusk. We should see them all day tomorrow, I think.

Tue, June 3, 2008

Tue, June 3, 2008 11:21 am

JUST GOT THE CALL. SUPER POD, WE THINK, RIGHT NOW NEAR LIME KILN.

Js and Ls for sure. Call for more details.

Js continue to show on the Westside. Above is a picture of a juvenile humpback seen in the San Juan and Speiden Chs. late Sunday afternoon. It could be the same one seen in February on the Westside just north of Lime Kiln.

Capt. Jim
378-7996

Sun, June 1, 2008 - 9:37 A.M.

Well, the Js have been like clock work. They spent yesterday on the West Side, and were headed up toward the Frazier River yesterday evening and have just been spotted north of Anacortes, headed south. They should be back on the West Side later this afternoon.

And the rumors are that a group of Orcas have been seen making their way in from the West. Hmmmmm?

Capt. Jim

Fri, May 30, 2008

We finally located the Js late in the morning yesterday as they came down Boundry Pass toward Stuart Island. Late yesterday evening they were still on the West Side just south of the Lime Kiln Light.

J's are up north and I don't think will be back down here until late today.

Capt. Jim

Thu, May 29, 2008

We spent the day with J Pod yesterday and left them in front of our dock at Snug Harbor late in the afternoon. Ah, the West Side!

We have room today for 4 this morning. We are full this afternoon.

Capt. Jim

Mon, May 26, 2008

Well, after seeing J Pod on every trip for over a week, they took off today. They were out west, way way west! Way past Sooke, but...They were last seen late this afternoon headed back this way. I think they were out looking for the Ls and Ks, who are due any day.

Also, there was an interesting story about Giant Calimari...er...Squid, on the net today.

http://news.aol.com/story/_a/fishermen-net-500-pound-squid/20080526150509990001

Giant Squid are the favorite food of the Sperm Whale, the same kind of whale that sank the whaling ship Essex, November 20, 1820, which let to the great American novel, Moby Dick. You can read about the sinking of the Essex in the wonderful book, In the Heart of the Sea, by Nathaniel Philbrick.

Sperm Whales are one of the deepest diving whales, though the Elephant Seal will dive even deeper, with recorded dives to 1,503 meters. The record for mammals goes however to the Cuvier's Beaked Whale.

The Cuvier's beaked whales were tagged in the Ligurian Sea off Italy, while the Blainville's beaked whales were tagged off the Canary Islands in deep water, between 700 and 2,000 meters (2,300 to 6,500 feet) with steep bottom topography. "Shallow dives seem to be performed between deep dives, and both species dive very deep to hunt for prey. They seem to spend equal time ascending and descending in shallow dives, but take longer to ascend from deep dives." Tyack said. "Avoidance of decompression problems by slow ascent, as in scuba divers, cannot account for this behavior if the lungs of these breathhold diving marine mammals are collapsed at depths greater than 100 meters (330 feet)."

Beaked whales are very little known because they spend little time at the surface and are difficult to tag. The better studied sperm whale can dive for more than one hour to depths greater than 1,200 meters (roughly 4,000 feet), with average dives of 45 minutes to depths of 600-1,000 meters (1,968 to 3,280 feet).

Elephant seals can spend up to two hours in depths over 1,500 meters (nearly 5,000 feet), but average dives last only 25-30 minutes to depths of about 500 meters (1,640 feet).

WOW!

We do have room tomorrow.

Capt. Jim