2005 5 Star Season closes

Well it's hard to believe it but it's been approximately 8 months on the water and it's time to put the boat to sleep for a while. Soon our orcas will leave the area in search of salmon perhaps offshore, north or south. In the mean time, researcher Ron Bates and myself will keep in touch with what animals are in our area and do our best to provide land based coverage so do check back here soon!

See you all next year. And we all know how fast that time will pass and then it will start all over again, I CAN'T WAIT!. It's been an amazing experience. There is NOTHING more amazing then this, life just can't be more incredible.

Thanks to all of the 5 star crew. You've made many dreams come true :)

J, K, L pods / South San Juan Island

It was raining today but flat calm out on the water. We traveled east to where most of the southern residents were feeding - most of them had traveled down Rosario Strait. We arrived to find most of the animals spread far apart individually, maybe in two's and sometimes three's. They were situated all the way from the shoreline of south San Juan Island out into the middle of the strait.

Soon after arriving, we were graced by a mother and calf who passed by our bow very close. We saw L74 / Saanich and L79 / Skana as both of them individually passed close by as well. We also caught a social moment as a male spy hopped approximately 200 yards from our bow. For the most part the animals stayed in a feeding pattern throughout our trip. The dark skies and waters made for excellent photographic contrasts. Fall is definately here. It's amazing to think that we have been out on the water 8 months now. Time sure flies when your having fun :)

Lpod / San Juan Island

This afternoon we traveled east to San Juan Island. We arrived and found mainly Lpod foraging near False Bay individually and in small groups. We were pretty lucky to see some calfs this time around - one that we think is L67 and calf L101 Aurora (L98 / Luna's brother). We also saw L72 / Racer as well as L57 / Faith hunting in the distance. Saw several small groupings of 3-5 animals. Some very social behavior by the jouveniles and calfs including one very close inspection of our boat. You can see the white outline pass below the bow of the boat and see the calf rolled over on it's side looking at us from under the water.

Saw a calf playing with kelp - had it drapped over it's head and through the mouth. Breaching, tail lobbing, belly rolls and other interesting social behaviors were displayed. Near the end of our trip, a small group consisting of a calf, mother or sister and big brother (pre jouvenile male) were playing right at our bow. Mom sat in the water just watching the calf and male play. Nothing could prepare us for the large head stand he would do right infront of our bow, and twice! It was spectacular - something i've not seen before. Then the baby appeared spyhopping and pec slapping at their larger family mate. It was an incredible treat.

Uploaded right from the boat

traveling along Haro Strait
Originally uploaded by orcagirl.

Cool Catamaran photos

Taken from Clover Point / Victoria on Sept 21





Click here for a video clip of the boat

A neat moment

Taken on Sept 7/05 while i was working on another boat, thought i would share this photo here.

J,K,L pods / San Juan Island

This morning we headed to beautiful San Juan Island where reports of all 3 pods were spread apart milling. When we arrived we found the L12's feeding and then caught up with a large group of k's and l's who were very close to the shoreline at Lime Kiln Park. Mixed into this spread open group was J19 / Speiden and her calf J41. It's been a long time since I have seen such a large group travel together like that. We positioned outside of the reserve, shut down and waited. In small groupings the large body of mainly k's and l's passed us. We managed to see a variety of behaviors; breaching, high speed hunting, cart wheels, spyhops, tail slapping, pec slapping and more. Today the whales were spread apart from False Bay to kellett bluff. It was flat calm and sunny, yet another glorious trip today.

Jpod / San Juan Island

It's been over a week since i've seen the southern residents. A lovely day on the water today, flat calm, open blue skies - perfect for venturing over to San Juan Island to see the orcas. We arrived to find most of the population (JKL pods) spread wide for miles milling in all directions. Although there were all 3 pods present in the area, we focused on a couple of Jpod individuals. J11 / Blossom and her offspring J39 were in pursuit of salmon, in fact, we saw her with the tail end of salmon in her mouth while several others tagged behind her as if to get a peice of fish. Aside from milling, we caught a few breaches from an adult female and calf. J39 was off feeding by itself for a while, and speed porpoised as to catch up with the others in the area. Once again, a great day out there on the water.

Heard there might be a new J and L pod baby in the last few days, how exciting! We should have confirmation soon on this.

L98 / Luna 2005

(Luna porpoises behind the Uchuck then turns back to Mooyah Bay where he spends most of his time)

j40 & family

j40 & family
Originally uploaded by orcagirl.

Introducing the "og" mobile camera phone. From the boat i will be able to transmit image and video straight to the internet, and sent to those who need them by email. stay tuned, this is a test.

L's / Juan De Fuca

Today we had one of the most adventurous rides. We crawled through some big sea rollers right from the breakwater (inner harbour) until we reached Hein bank area where the L's were travling eastward over to San Juan Island - south end. JKL pods came in early this morning, J & K headed north while the L's continued to mill about. We caught various behaviors within those large swells; high persuit hunting, tail lobbing, some breaches by adults and calves, and the odd belly roll. Many of the animals were seen traveling at high speed below the surface and one even tumbled after a fish near another boat. Quite the show. We endured yet another adventurous ride home, making you appreciate both your crew and the power of the ocean. Rachael Griffin (from M3 and LSP) joined us today and she loved every moment out there. Also slipped in a photo of Mike Grave on GPA zodiac.