#L105 Fluke

[snini-9]

January 20, 2022: J and L Pod- Haro Strait

J44 Moby

L83 Moonlight and L110 Midnight

L86 Surprise and L125 Element

J22 Oreo

L105 Fluke

L87 Onyx

L83 Moonlight, J22 Oreo, and J38 Cookie

J36 Alki

J57 Phoenix

L109 Takoda and J22 Oreo

Photo Credit to the Center for Whale Research Encounter #4 - Jan 20, 2022

[art-corner-of-merci]

Managed to crank out one last night of commissions before moving out!

These “Cappy Comms” were used to gather enough funds to adopt K21 Cappuccino before he perished. It’s more than likely I was too late, but as The Whale Museum’s website had not updated to reflect his death, I was able to snag an adoption before he was removed.

I know it’s not enough to bring him back, but this one’s for him.

Rest easy, Cappy.

[orca-sketcher]

#inktober2018 nr. 7, made it through the first week again😁

L105 Fluke, a male Southern Resident, born in 2004 to mum L72 Racer.

The Southern Residents are starving to death before our eyes. We have to take action now; breach the dams, ban salmon fishing and stop the pipelines! Check out pnwprotectors.com, damsense.org and whaleresearch.com for more information on how you can help. This is up to us!

[whaletalesorg]

A Southern Resident Superpod. To read this story (and more!), follow the link in our bio.⠀ Photo: L105"Fluke" by @gary_j27⠀ #whaletales #whales #killerwhales #orca #2015 #SRKW #whalewatching #getonaboat #storytelling #salishsea #breach #LPod https://www.instagram.com/p/BnHmGqlFZbh/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=zdi0sy1bgw3m

[prairieorca]

Another month, another opportunity to remind myself about how imperiled the Southern Residents are.

No fish, no blackfish.

Since I have awful penmanship, here’s what I wrote:

L72 Racer ♀ (1986) Mother: JellyRoll L43 (1972-2006) Grandmother: Kimo L37 (1933-1984) Brothers: Nigel L95 (1996-2016), Domino L104 (2004-2006) Aunt: Canuck L7 (1961-2010) Cousins: Lulu L53 (1977-2014), Mowgli L76 (1987-1987) Offspring: Fluke L105 (2004), Stillborn (2010), Stillborn (2016)

J45 Se-Yi’-Chn ♂ (2009) Mother: Samish J14 (1974-2016) Grandmother: Sissy J12 (1933-1996) Great-grandmother: Granny J2 (1911-2016) Uncle: Canuck J24 (1970-1974) *captivity Siblings: Capricorn J23 (1987-1991), Riptide J30 (1995-2012), Hy’Shqa J37 (2001), Suttles J40 (2004), J43 (2007-2007) Nephew: T’ílem Ínges J49 (2012)

(Granny’s incorrect birth year is just a placeholder.)

[respectanimalrights]

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by KIMBERLY 🎬🐬 (@respectanimalsdontbuyaticket)

"Bretheren" - 🔵@maestro320 's Notes: "The crisis we face today are created by humans, and what is created by humans can be changed by humans. So, we are capable of transforming our world." - This beautiful footage was filmed on location at Cowichan Bay, British Columbia with Ocean Eco Ventures @ocean_eco courtesy of Gifted Artist, Passionate Cetacean Conservationist, Landscape and Wildlife Photographer, The Guardian of The Salish Sea Orcas, My Good Friend, Tasli Shaw © @taslishaw - A bittersweet sunset with at least 17 Lpod whales. It is my hope that this video will move you to embrace kindness and thoughtfulness toward this planet; the southern resident killer whales are icons of how our actions impact this earth and the life sustaining oceans. Their search for food has taken them far and wide so far this year. Most of Lpod and all of Jpod have been in the Salish Sea on and off for the last week, and it has been a heartbreaking reminder of what is at stake. L47 "Marina" and her family, L72 "Racer" with her son L105 "Fluke", and the L4 matriline (which is L55 "Nugget" and L86 "Surprise" with all of their children). Resident killer whales off the west coast of Canada and the United States eat about 66 kilograms of fish every day. They seem to prefer herring to salmon but are adaptable, eating one food source when another is suddenly unavailable. In recent years 50,000 sea otters in the area where these killer whales reside have disappeared. No one knows for sure what happened to them but it is believe they were consumed by killer whales, whose traditional source of food, salmon, has declined. Killer whales in the Pacific Northeast feed mostly on chinook, or king, salmon. They also eat lingcod and flounder. They sometimes follow fishing boats and eat fish that is discarded and thrown overboard. When not feeding they are noisy and playful. They often hang around making an array of sounds, splashing and breaching. Killer whales in Puget Sound sometimes eat as much as 180 kilograms of salmon a day. https://www.instagram.com/p/CAGEu_cAmYt/?igshid=1tby09p1wzri3

[holly30253]

Identification List of L Pod Members, 3/31/19.

Here is a list of all the L Pod members present from our sighting of the southern resident killer whales. We sent the photos to Ken Balcomb of the Center for Whale Research, who has studied these whales for over 45 years. Dave Ellifrit did most of the matching. Jeannie Hyde also looked at our photos to ID the whales; their ID lists matched. These are the top experts on SRKWs, and hold the catalog for these whales. The most exciting news was that  the little calf born in December was present, L124 Lucky!! We did not see five L Pod members, including the L54 matriline that often travels separately from the main L Pod. One member L87 now travels with J Pod, leaving the 29 whales that we identified on March 31, 2019.  Photos from Monterey Bay Whale Watch included those taken by Tomoko and Nicene Shimotomai, Daniel Bianchetta, Kara Hall, and Josh Meza-Fidalgo.

MBWW 3-31-2019 SRKW Encounter

Ken Balcomb and his staff at Center for Whale Research and Jeanne Hyde have confirmed the following 29 members of L-pod from our photos. L22    "Spirit" L25    "Ocean Sun" L41    "Mega" L47    "Marina" L55    "Nugget" L72    "Racer" L77    "Matia" L82    "Kasatka" L83    "Moonlight" L85    "Mystery" L86    "Surprise!" L89    "Solstice" L90    "Ballena" L91    "Muncher" L94    "Calypso" L103   "Lapis" L105   "Fluke" L106    "Pooka" L109   "Takoda" L110   "Midnight" L113   "Cousteau" L115   "Mystic" L116   "Finn" L118   "Jade" L119   "Joy" L121   "Windsong" L122   "Magic" L123   "Lazuli" L124   "Lucky" (unofficial name) L54 subgroup was not found in these photos - although this did not mean that they were not there. L54 (with her two offspring, L108 and L117) with two adult males, L84 (sole survivor of L9 matriline), and L88 (sole survivor of L2 matriline) are known to hang out often on the Vancouver Island coast and seldom come into the Salish Sea - according to Ken Balcomb. Although L87 "Onyx" is included in L Pod, he is associated with J Pod. He is an orphan (after his mother L32 died in 2005); we used to watch him following right behind J2 "Granny". He still travels with J Pod. L77 "Matia" (born 1987), is the mother of L124 (born December 2018). L77 has another female calf, L119 "Joy". We saw three-month-old L124 traveling with its mother and sister in Monterey Bay, often escorted by L41 "Mega" and other large males. L25 "Ocean Sun" (born 1928) is the presumed mother of Tokitae (Lolita) - the only living SRKW in captivity. "Ocean Sun" has outlived her family members, except for Tokitae at Miami Seaquarium; she travels with L41 "Mega" and his sisters. Referenced material • Center for Whale Research ORCA ID GUIDEP 2018 • Encounter logs from https://www.whaleresearch.com/ • Name of the whales are referenced from The Whale Museum – Adopt and Orca Program, San Juan Island, Friday Harbor, WA. Photo below: "Ocean Sun", by Tomoko Shimotomai/Monterey Bay Whale Watch

https://www.facebook.com/gowhales/photos/pcb.2027857923978599/2027844283979963/?type=3&theater

[islandadventureswhales]

Port Angeles Highlights:

Lunge-Feeding Humpbacks

Bald Eagles

Elephant Seals & More! 

We had a beautiful "Pacific Northwest" day on the water, gray skies but smooth seas all day. Luckily, the rain held off just until the moment we got back to the dock after the trip. We started our journey with a large group of harbor seals on the end of Ediz Hook and a pair of mature bald eagles just up the beach from them! We then headed northeast to the rock pile where Captain Nate spotted two humpback whales traveling near each other. As we watched, they seemed to split off and put more distance between them. One whale was rolling on the surface and seemed to be doing some surface feeding! The other whale had long downtimes so we headed northwest toward race rocks. On the way sharp eyed guests spotted us a third humpback! As we approached we saw some excellent lunge feeding! We even got a look inside its mouth at its baleen!! We got several more awesome looks at the whales throat grooves and tail flukes as it continued lunge feeding! We then headed to race rocks where we saw another pair of eagles, lots of harbor seals, a California sea lion swimming around, and a big elephant seal! As we cruised home we got our last peeks of the snowy Olympic mountain range poking out from the clouds.

Anacortes AM Highlights: Transient Orcas L Pod Orcas Bald Eagle Harbor seals at pointer Island. Went through upright channel to griffin Bay. Found T36As and T65Bs hunting along the shoreline. Surrounded and circled the bull kelp. There was a harbor seal hiding. Some great looks as they hunted. Left through cattle pass. West side of San Juan Island we found Lpod spread out. We spotted L82, L41, L72, L92, L105 and a few more inshore. Great looks in the calm water. Stellers and harbor seals at whale rocks. Bald eagle at swirl rocks.Anacortes PM Highlights: Transient Orcas Making a Kill! L Pod Resident Orcas South in Rosario strait. East of salmon bank we found T36As and T65Bs. As we approached, the hunt began - a little harbor porpoise. They slowly followed it in circles. Slow pursuit. Tail lobs. A couple of times he porpoise was airborne! Incredibly. The moms took care of the porpoise in the end, with quick movements and then they proceeded to group up and head south. Headed out toward Hein bank where Lpod was sleeping. All the dorsal fins popping up at the same time. Incredible. Headed the wrong direction so we turned back for whale rocks where we found several stellers, a few harbor seals and a bald eagle. pushed offshore again caught up with the Ts who were steadily cruising south... we left them behind as we cruised home under a drizzle or rain.

La Conner Highlights:

Humpback "Split Fin" Breaching & Tail-Slapping

T36A's and T65B's Transients

Bald Eagles

Headed south in the channel and towards the end we passed some eagles some herons and some black oystercatchers. We headed up under the bridge and out into the Strait to search. Captain Trevor found our first whale split Fin breaching and slapping his flukes. We had a great show from him before heading to griffin bay and joining up with the T36A's and T65B's. We enjoyed watching them kill some prey before going to Lopez to get some lunch ourselves. After lunch we headed back out into San Juan channel and joined up with the transients again and had a great viewing south bound on Lopez. After that we returned under the bridge and back to the dock.

[snini-9]

December 27, 2021: L Pod- Victoria waterfront

L83 Moonlight

L125 Element and L86 Surprise!

L125 Element

L118 Jade and L86 Surprise!

L115 Mystic, L123 Lazuli, L103 Lapis, L125 Element, and L86 Surprise

L115 Mystic

L105 Fluke

L106 Pooka and L87 Onyx

L91 Muncher, L122 Magic, and L115 Mystic

L87 Onyx

L82 Kasatka

L72 Racer

Photo Credit to the Center for Whale Research  Encounter #94 - Dec 27, 2021

[snini-9]

January 22, 2022: L Pod- Haro Strait

L105 Fluke

L22 Spirit

L83 Moonlight and L122 Magic

L25 Ocean Sun, L72 Racer, and L105 Fluke

L125 Element

L115 Mystic and L121 Windsong

L106 Pooka

L113 Cousteau

L105 Fluke and L85 Mystery

L85 Mystery

L116 Finn, L22 Spirit, L82 Kasatka, L77 Matia

L72 Racer and L105 Fluke

L55 Nugget and L109 Takoda

L87 Onyx

L55 Nugget

NOTES: L90 Ballena is surfacing with a bow-backed, stiff way, which CWR has begun to notice as when she is presumed to be pregnant. This is her fourth potential, and at 29 years old, she has never been seen with a living calf, likely due to her smaller  size. “ L90 currently has the sway-backed look she has had in the past when we have suspected her to be pregnant. “

L89 Solstice is Missing “ The L54s and L88 were not present during this encounter. Everybody else in L pod was photographed by the end of the day with the exception of L89. Our friend and colleague Jared Towers had had the L12s up off northern Vancouver Island in front of Alert Bay on January 13th and L89 had not been present then either. L89 was last seen on November 5th, 2021 and he looked normal at that time. This is worrisome but we will continue looking for L89 until the rest of the southern residents are thoroughly documented in 2022. “

Photo Credit to the Center for Whale Research  Encounter #6 - Jan 22, 2022

[snini-9]

October 29, 2021: J, K, L Pods- Race Rocks

L109 Takoda, L118 Jade, L55 Nugget, L86 Surprise!, L106 Pooka, and L87 Onyx

L125 Element and L118 Jade

K27 Deadhead

L109 Takoda, L118 Jade, L55 Nugget, and L86 Surprise!

L105 Fluke

K44 Ripple and K20 Spock

K35 Sonata

K34 Cali, K27 Deadhead, K44 Ripple

K27 Deadhead and K34 Cali

K20 Spock, K44 Ripple, and K38 Comet

K16 Opus

J47 Notch and L87 Onyx

J42 Echo

J38 Cookie

J37 Hy’Shqa, J49 T’ilem I’nges, J41 Eclipse, and J58 Crescent

J36 Alki

J31 Tsuchi, J39 Mako, J56 Tofino, and J27 Blackberry

J26 Mike

J19 Shachi, J39 Mako, and J51 Nova

Mark Malleson and Fin

Photo Credit to the Center for Whale Research  Encounter #85 - Oct 29, 2021

[snini-9]

September 12, 2021: J, K, and L Pods- Haro Strait

K14s and K16s

J41 Eclipse

J57 Phoenix

L91 Muncher, L122 Magic, and L72 Racer

L72 Racer and L105 Fluke

K35 Sonata, K26 Lobo, and K42 Kelp

J41 Eclipse and J19 Shachi

J58 Crescent 

K34 Cali

L105 Fluke

K33 Tika

Important Note: WDFW has confirmed that J19 Shachi, J36 Alki, and J37 Hy’shqa are in the late stages of pregnancy

Photo Credit to the Center for Whale Research  Encounter #71 - Sept 12, 2021

[snini-9]

September 9, 2021: J, K, and L Pods- Haro Strait

K37 Rainshadow

J38 Cookie

K26 Lobo

L105 Fluke

L116 Finn and K44 Ripple

K16 Opus

K42 Kelp

Photo Credit to the Center for Whale Research  Encounter #68 - Sept 9, 2021

[snini-9]

January 30, 2019: L Pod- Canadian side of Haro Strait and Juan de Fuca Strait

L105 Fluke

L55 Nugget, L109 Takoda, L86 Surprise!

L106 Pooka

L55 Nugget, L123 Lazuli, L109 Takoda

L118 Jade, L55 Nugget, L123 Lazuli, L109 Takoda

L103 Lapis

L83 Moonlight and L110 Midnight

L72 Racer and L105 Fluke

L90 Ballena and L105 Fluke

Photo Credit to the Center for Whale Research Encounter #6 - Jan 30, 2019

[snini-9]

July 24, 2020: K and L pod- Boundary Pass and Haro Strait

L82 Kasatka Spyhop

Belly Flop

K35 Sonata Cartwheel

Breach

L Pod South of Turn Point

L87 Onyx

L86 Surprise! and L47 Marina

K35 Sonata

K21 Cappuccino and K35 Sonata

L105 Fluke 

Photo Credit to the Center for Whale Research Encounter #34 - July 24, 2020

[snini-9]

July 25, 2020: K and L pod- Haro Strait and San Juan Channel

K21 Cappuccino

L105 Fluke and L72 Racer 

K16 Opus

L47 Marina 

L87 Onyx

L105 Fluke

K35 Sonata and K16 Opus

L116 Finn pec slap next to L82 Kasatka

K16 Opus and L72 Racer 

L110 Midnight chasing salmon 

“L90 (Ballena) was moving quickly east and was not surfacing regularly so it made it hard to get good shots of her. Her appearance was rather stiff and rigid so there is a chance she may be pregnant again.” Photo Credit to the Center for Whale Research Encounter #35 - July 25, 2020