EncDate:01/07/23 

Enc#:05

Vessel:Orcinus

UAV ID:Columbia

Pilot:Michael Weiss

Operators:Michael Weiss

Other Staff:Dave Ellifrit

Other Observers:Alyssa Kelley, Federica Spina

Pods:J

LocationDescr:Haro Strait

Start Latitude:48 32.05

Start Longitude:123 10.35

End Latitude:48 34.94

End Longitude:123 11.75

 

EncSummary:

The team got an early morning report of residents headed north on the west side of San Juan Island. They left Snug at 847, hoping to catch the whales passing Snug as they continued north.

They didn't see any sign of the whales off Mitchell Bay, and headed slowly down island. They found a large group of resting whales just south of San Juan County Park at 858. This group was composed of a large portion of J pod (the J14s, J16s, J19s, and J22s), formed up in a rough resting line. The team could see blows from another group of apparently resting whales further south, which they assumed were the rest of J pod and the L12s.

The team did a single drone flight on the northern group of Js, but then saw that the whales were turning back south and starting to speed up and spread out. The team left the front group and headed down island, with a main goal of getting better photos of L22, and more photos of the new calves.

See Orca Survey Encounter 32 for details of the rest of our day on the water with J pod and the L12s.