Encounter Summary: 

"Chimo" departed John Wayne Marina at 1411 and pounded across the eastern Strait of Juan de Fuca to San Juan Island. The weather was forecast and reported to be good, but the tide chop and an unpredicted westerly breeze at 15-20 knots mid-strait made the trip pretty chunky. Off False Bay whales were spotted very spread out, and they turned out to be a mix of some J's and some K's. The J16's were reportedly at East Point, and the L's maybe headed west in the strait last night. There was not much point in trying to identify many whales in the slop, so "Chimo" continued on to Snug Harbor.

Notes-Comments: It is obvious this year that the foraging pattern of the SRKW's is increasingly spreading this yeasr, consistent with a prediction I made years ago that as prey resources diminish in the Salish Sea, the predators will visit in smaller groups and less often. Some matrilines or individuals may rarely venture to these inland waters. For example, in spite of our increased vessel response in 2015 the following L whales have not appeared in any of our photographs: L72,L88,L90,L92,L105,L108, and L117. They were in photographs taken in February off the Washington coast by NWFSC.