EncDate:07/01/24 

EncSeq:1

Enc#:04

ObservBegin:03:15 PM

ObservEnd:03:35 PM

Vessel:Mike 1

Staff:Mark Malleson

Other Observers:Joe Zelwietro, Brendon Bissonnette

Pods:J Pod

LocationDescr:Sheringham Point

Start Latitude:48 21.10

Start Longitude:123 57.80

End Latitude:48 21.54

End Longitude:124 01.75

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EncSummary:

Mark called Joe just after noon to report a small group of resident killer whales he’d spotted near Race Rocks on a morning whale-watch tour, so Joe readied Mike 1 and met Mark and Brendon for an afternoon attempt at reacquiring the westbound animals. After battling through overhead swell and the accompanying two-foot surface chop from the moderate outflow winds, the guys found themselves off Point No Point. They estimated this was the farthest west the whales would be, so slowed for a scan. Seeing just a solitary humpback several miles farther southwest, they turned inshore and began working northeast toward Sheringham Point. They had documented a trio of humpbacks near Point No Point and were slowing for another three at Sheringham when several small, spread blows appeared just south of them…killer whales!
With daylight fading, they understood that it was not realistic to document each individual present, so instead focused on locating young J60 and whichever female he happened to be travelling with today. In the CWR’s most recent encounter with J pod (Encounter #03) J60 had been swimming with J16, though she is likely post-reproductive and a better candidate for the youngster’s grandmother than mother. Prior to that, J60 was first documented by researchers in Puget Sound alongside J40. Since Mark and Joe’s encounter with J pod last week, the operating theory has been that J60 actually belongs with the J16s, likely as J42’s first calf. This has been difficult to prove though, given that the pair have yet to be documented together!
Fortunately, the first animals the team slowed for were indeed J16, J42 and young J60! Today, the newest Southern Resident was travelling with J42. The whales were travelling quickly west, at one point eclipsing 10 knots as they surfed down the back side of the steep swells. J16 was slightly apart from the younger pair, and throughout the short encounter J60 never left J42’s echelon position. After pacing the animals west for a short time, the crew were able to determine that the rest of the pod were spread to the south and east, except J19 and a few others, who were confirmed visually approximately 400 metres northeast of the J16s. They ended the encounter south of Point No Point and began the journey home with J pod travelling quickly west-southwest with the strong ebb current.
Given J60's early wandering, we would like to see J60 alongside J42 consistently before we confirm their relationship, but today's encounter certainly supports the theory that J42 has indeed become a mother for the first time.
After departing the J16s and J19s, the team spotted a solitary J27 nearly 1.5 nautical miles east of the rest, travelling at a more leisurely pace. J27 was also toward the back of the pack for much of CWR’s late December encounter with the group, but with the large swells and low light in the Juan de Fuca today, it is possible that others were closer to him than we could determine.
Perhaps of note, J42 is sporting several fresh rake marks along her left flank, first noted by the CWR in our January 3rd encounter. It is possible that the question of J60’s maternity and these rakes are related, but we still have much to learn of intra-pod social dynamics and we are not able to make a correlation yet.

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