Killer Whale Convergence

On October 18, I looked out our window and saw Chum salmon flopping about near the VHP site. Throughout the day, seals and sea lions picked off a few fish. "Excellent," I thought, "we finally have some food here for our Kéet relatives."

The next day, a superpod of 50 – 60 Southern Residents traveled slowly down East Passage, foraging and socializing in scattered groups en route to the south end of Vashon-Maury. A late afternoon procession of killer whales around Point Robinson continued for more than an hour, replete with tail slapping, breaching, spyhopping, and "pink floyd" flashing -- just beyond the point, frisky Mike (J26) displayed more than his dorsal fin.

In order to obtain IDs, I had my eyes glued to binoculars while Odin took some photos. I knew from the number of adult males that J, K and L Pod members were in the mix. Many orcas were hundreds of yards offshore, including a cluster of females with a peachy calf. At that distance, we cannot be certain whether the wee one was a newborn or 2-month-old J49. The orcas’ gregarious behavior, however, may be a clue that they were celebrating a birth.

Odin and I rushed back to Chez VHP, anticipating an "orca-stra" in Dalco Pass. To our delight, echolocation clicks and multilayered, melodic calls by dozens of endangered Southern Residents resonated on the hydrophone for 2½ hours on the night of October 19. Since no research boats could deploy that day, the VHP recording stands as the initial data confirming the presence of orcas from all three pods. An abundance of clicks and buzzes signified that the killer whales were feasting on Chum salmon. The abrupt cessation of calls and clicks at 9:15 PM suggests that the whales rounded Point Dalco, into Colvos Pass. Previously, we have heard similar exuberance in the Southern Residents when they welcomed a newborn.

This week’s Maya Sears photo from October 2011 at Point Robinson is in tribute to Tsux’iit/Luna’s uncle Gaia (L78), a beloved young adult L Pod male who, sadly, was not among the October 19 superpod. Our vulnerable Southern Residents are having a dreadful year. After six deaths, the population has declined to 84 – but that is another article.

Please support the work of the Vashon Hydrophone Project (VHP): REPORT LOCAL WHALE SIGHTINGS ASAP TO 463-9041, as well as sick, injured, or dead marine mammals on Island beaches. Reporting directly to the VHP sustains an ongoing, accurate dataset of whale sightings for Vashon-Maury and nearby Central Puget Sound waters, initiated more than 30 years ago by researcher Mark Sears. Check for updates at Vashonorcas.org and send photos to Orca Annie at Vashonorcas@aol.com.

Islanders and commuters, your calls on October 19 were extremely helpful to us, and we are grateful! Dear readers, the whales were so spread out that identifying individuals has proved challenging, so we are keenly interested in photos if you have any.

Regrettably, several boats off Point Robinson on the 19th violated state and federal regulations that prohibit all vessels – except research boats under permit -- from approaching within 200 yards of endangered killer whales. Odin photographed one oblivious cabin cruiser plowing through sets of predominantly female and juvenile orcas. Vessel impacts go underreported in Vashon-Maury waters, yet they routinely occur when social media and news helicopters relentlessly expose the real-time locations of orcas. We encourage Islanders who observe or photograph marine mammal harassment to report incidents to NMFS Enforcement at 1-800-853-1964.