EncDate:01/06/24 

EncSeq:1

Enc#:46

ObservBegin:10:35 AM

ObservEnd:12:56 PM

Vessel:KCB III

Staff:Dave Ellifrit, Michael Weiss

Other Observers:Lee Connally, Sara Hysong-Shimazu

Pods:J, K

LocationDescr:Haro Strait

Start Latitude:48 23.76

Start Longitude:123 03.27

End Latitude:48 27.19

End Longitude:123 03. 41

 

EncSummary:

The morning began with reports of about forty whales heading west off the south end of Lopez Island. Once we gathered the team and met at Snug Harbor, we left on KCB3 at 1005. The Wild Orca crew got out before we did and found the whales about four miles south of Eagle Point so we headed that direction. We arrived on scene at 1035 in that same area to find J and K pods in several large groups pointed northeast towards San Juan Island. The groups may have been mixed when we arrived but seemed to be breaking up. We had the K12s and K13s in a group to the northwest of us while a mixed group of J pod and the K3s were to the southeast of us. A couple of smaller groups of J pod passed underneath us as they traveled northeast towards SJI. J and K pod members soon began gathering in their respective pods with J pod moving almost a half mile to the southeast of K pod.

We stuck with K pod since we had seen less of them in 2024. They took a slightly more northerly track than before and were in a tight, resting formation. We got some good lefts and rights on K pod along with a couple of drone flights before we thought we would move on to J pod who was now about a quarter mile to the southeast of K pod. We moved behind K pod and over to J pod and got a few photos before J pod decided to switch positions with K pod. After a long dive, J pod came up another quarter mile to the southwest of K pod. J pod was still heading north in a single group and began passing K pod up on the outside. It was more convenient to stay with K pod so we got some more photos and a couple more drone flights in. At around 1225, and about a half mile offshore of Eagle Point, K pod angled inshore and began spreading out. At this point, we felt like we had K pod good enough for the time being and decided to give J pod another try. J pod was about a mile offshore of Eagle Point still heading slowly up island. They were in a fairly tight group although a little more stretched out than K pod had been. We made sure we had pictures of everyone before ending the encounter at 1256 with J pod about a mile northwest of Eagle Point. Upon examining our photos after we got home, we realized that K37 had got some new scarring on his dorsal fin since we had last seen him on May 27th. It was just some light tooth rakes but it might result in a small nick or an uneven trailing edge.