Encounter Summary: 

For much of the day it was foggy followed by wind and choppy seas, but by 1600 it was clearing and calming enough to attempt an encounter with whales. J and L whales had been seen yesterday near the Coal Docks at Tsawassen, and many of them went down Rosario Strait and around Lopez Island early this morning. Ken took "Orcinus" down the San Juan Island coastline to see if any of the whales had come up that far by late afternoon. The first whales encountered off Hannah Heights were members of the L47 matriline heading down island, and the J17s heading down island off Pile Point. The J16s were off Eagle Point, and J26 was offshore of Salmon Bank. Heading west, the next whales were additional small groups of J and L whales several miles south of Discovery Island where the encounter ended. The whale distribution was extremely spread over 50 square miles of Haro Strait and the eastern Strait of Juan de Fuca, and the associations were a mixture of J and L whales in the offshore waters. They all continued in a westerly direction and apparently exited the Salish Sea inland marine waters in the night.

Notes-Comments:The adult males were apparently taking very long dives and were peripheral by miles to the other whales.