EncDate:22/06/24 

EncSeq:2

Enc#:56

ObservBegin:11:53 AM

ObservEnd:01:45 PM

Vessel:KCB III

Staff:Michael Weiss, Darren Croft

Other Observers:Rachel John, Taylor Redmond

Pods:J

Start Latitude:48 24.29

Start Longitude:123 64.88

End Latitude:48 29.63

End Longitude:123 08.91

 

EncSummary:

The team had heard reports of southern residents offshore of southern San Juan Island, and despite choppy seas on most of the west side, the weather report further south looked favorable. The team left the dock at 1058 to try to catch up with the whales and hopefully conduct some drone flights.

It took some searching, but the team finally saw whales in the distance between Middle and Hein Bank. The team got in range of the whales at 1153 and started the encounter.

The first two whales the team found were J27 and J39, travelling together back towards San Juan Island. After a couple passes and behavior logs on the two brothers, the team moved off towards a larger group they had spotted to the northwest. There, the team found the J22s and J14s in a tight formation, also heading towards San Juan Island. Also in the area, but more spread out, were members of the J17 matriline: J44, J53, and J46. After a few minutes, these J17s joined in the formation with the other two matrilines.

The team wanted to try to get drone footage of this group, however the seas the whales were in were a bit too rough to safely launch and retrieve the aircraft. The team decided to move inshore where the water was flatter and wait for the whales to get to them. Unfortunately, as the whales neared this calm water, the weather turned and it began to rain, grounding the drone for the time being.

The team decided to move off towards reports of other southern residents near Landbank. Along the San Juan shoreline near Hannah Heights they found J42, foraging on her own. Further north, they found her brother J26, also foraging. A brief break in the rain allowed the team to launch the drone over J26, however the rain quickly returned and forced the team to land. The team then ended the encounter at 1345 and headed towards Snug.

Photos taken under Federal Permits

NMFS PERMIT: 27038/DFO SARA 388