EncDate:8/06/24 

EncSeq: 2

Enc#:47

ObservBegin:01:40 PM

ObservEnd:05:05 PM

Vessel:KCB III

Staff:Dave Ellifrit

Other Observers:Rachel John, Lee Connally

Pods:J, L

LocationDescr:Haro Strait

Start Latitude:48 28.41

Start Longitude:123 05.84

End Latitude:48 33.31

End Longitude:123 11.14

 

EncSummary:

Mark and Joe had a good morning encounter aboard “Mike 1” with J pod plus the L54s and L88 as they crossed the Victoria waterfront and east to Seabird Point (Encounter 47-1). They had been in contact with us over on San Juan Island so we knew that the L54s and L88 were coming in and making a rare early Summer appearance in inshore waters. After Mark and Joe went home and the whales crossed Haro Strait to the west side of San Juan Island, we gathered the team to see what the whales would do once they were in Haro Strait. The team met at Snug Harbor and left in “KCB3” at about 1316.  

We arrived on scene off Kanaka Bay at 1340. The first whale we saw was a male in the lead who turned out to be L88 and he was traveling north inshore towards Pile Point. We took some left sides on him and then moved back to a loose group of whales that were a couple hundred yards behind. This was a group of Js that included all the J14s plus J26 and J39. This group appeared to be social as they moved slowly north and inshore towards Pile Point. These whales moved up the SJI towards Hannah Heights so we moved offshore to find someone else. There were no whales showing up to the southeast and, about a mile or more offshore, we could only find the J22s and J27 spread out. Other then a few whales plastered to the SJI shoreline, we were having trouble finding any other whales. Proof of presence photos of taken of whales hdg north up the shoreline later revealed the J31s, J35s, J42, J53, and L54, along with members of the spread-out J pod group we had earlier off the north end of False Bay. We were not seeing any new whales although J27 moved inshore off Pile Point. We moved offshore and headed north up Haro around the whales coming up the SJI shoreline. Off of the County Park, we found a single female heading north by herself. This was L54 so we made sure we got some good left side shots of her as she traveled up Andrews Bay. Other whales were being extremely hard to spot in any direction. We thought there might be more whales to the south of us so we went all the way back to Bellevue Point looking for them. Whatever was down there, vanished, so we headed back north yet again.

Off CWR, two whales showed up from offshore and were socializing together. This was the two young males J51 and L117 and we made sure we got good lefts on them too. L54 also showed up again and was nearby. J51 and L117 began milling and then turned toward the boat. We looked down and saw a good-sized salmon swim right over to the stern with J51 and L117 in a slow pursuit. They slow chased the fish around the port side of the boat and looked like they caught it off our bow. More whales must have gone north than we thought since whales were beginning show up out of the woodwork from the north while we were off Smugglers Cove. J27 showed up and he was heading slowly south. L88 also reappeared and he was milling around in Mitchell Bay. The J37s passed us heading south fairly quickly. J26 showed up and he joined L88 and the two of them milled around together between the south end of Mitchell Bay and CWR. They moved inshore so we moved offshore a little but were not seeing a whole lot of whales out there. We saw J39 again slowly heading south. We then saw some splashes up towards Kellett Bluff and this turned out to be the J19s who were porpoising southeast in a loose group. A little behind and offshore of them, J42 and J53 passed us on the backlit side heading southeast at a medium pace. We decided to call it since we weren’t seeing any more whales that weren’t already to the south of us. As we were heading slowly in, one last group over a mile behind us to the northwest caught our eye. We decided to see who they were too and it ended up being all three of the L54s traveling together. L108 had finally appeared so we got a few rights on him, his mom, and younger brother as they headed south off Smugglers Cove in a tight group. L108 broke off and moved inshore a little while L88 showed up again and joined L54 and L117. This group of three were traveling due south, tight together about a mile offshore of CWR. J26 and J45 were traveling together about a quarter to a half mile off the reef and L108 was traveling south by himself between the two small groups. We ended the encounter at 1705 a little over a mile offshore of CWR with L54, L117, and L88 still in a tight group heading south.

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