On July 3rd, with more friends in town for the holiday weekend, we headed out to Lime Kiln and got lucky to be there for a J-Pod passby. In particular, J35 Tahlequah and her son J47 Notch were a spectacular sight as they breached repeatedly on their way past the lighthouse:
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| J35 Tahlequah |
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| J47 Notch |
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| J35 Tahlequah |
On July 6th, after a long day at work, I headed out to Lime Kiln again and was treated to a pass by members of all three pods - about 60 whales. They were mostly quite a ways offshore, but any time you get to see that many whales traveling all together it's a pretty special treat. The lighting was bizarre as a result of all the regional wildfires.
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| K26 Lobo |
Four L-Pod whales hadn't visited inland waters with their usual group earlier this summer - L72 Racer, L105 Fluke, L90 Muncher, and L92 Crewser. In early July they made their first visit, and I got to see them for the first time on this evening.
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| The distinct dorsal fin of L92 Crewser silhouetted in the strange orange lighting of a smokey sunset |
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| The L4s on the left and L95 Nigel on the right |
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| Lots of whales! :) |
On July 9th, this time with some family visiting, we again went out to Lime Kiln for sunset, hoping to see whales. Bingo! Part of J- and K-Pods swam by, with the smokey skies again providing a stunning and unusual backdrop.
After a week of great shore-based whale encounters, and striking out when going out looking on the boat, I was ready for another research trip on the boat. Things would come together for just that on July 11th - stay tuned for my next post.
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