Solo day in Seattle

I have just returned from my whirlwind roadtrip with my dear friend Dean from Washington State to Indiana. Dean and I planned on he and I driving out to Washington in May and I would fly home. However, he was chosen to lead a team mapping the Continental Divide Trail in May so we flipped it. He flew out and we drove back together.

I will be posting some pics from the journey at http://tert2007.blogspot.com/. The following are my solo day in Seattle. I went to Snoqualmie Falls outside of Seattle while awaiting Dean's arrive to start our road trip home.

July 27th Orca Encounter in boat

July 27th I was lucky enough not only to go out in the boat for my coveted orca encounters, but I was able to take my guest, Shanan. Marina is a scientist that has just returned to Spain. Marina was gracious to offer her spot on the boat to Shanan.

This was my first boat trip south so I got to see some scenery from the water I had previously only seen from land. We went past Lime Kiln and Hannah Heights. We were in the very waters I have spent many mornings scouting whales on morning watch.

The whales were heading out to sea and stayed there for 5 days after this encounter. They are just heading back now as I type.

We had a phenomenal experience with having majestic J-1 all to ourselves. He is regal and kingly to watch.

When we caught up with the rest of the pod, they were very lively. Lots of logging, spyhopping and tail-lobbing which makes for exciting viewing!!!

One of my photos of a spyhop made the Center's website!!!

July 26th Orca Encounter in boat

Thursday, July 26th I got to go out in the boat to view some members from the J, K and L Pods. It was a beautiful and spectacular encounter. Mt. Baker was clearly visible. The whales were, as always, a joy to behold.

One of my breach photos even made The Center for Whale Research site!!!

San Juans at sunrise

My dear friends Michelle and Shanan were here for a visit last week. We arose just at sunrise to go for morning whale watch. We didn't find whales, but it was my great honor to be able to show them beautiful San Juan Island in the golden light of sunrise.

These pictures are from the southern end of the island at American Camp around 6:00 a.m.

Boat Perspective

I was lucky enough to be able to get a dear friend out in the boat while she was visiting last week. She snapped a couple of pictures of me and Emma shooting members of the J and K Pod south of Lime Kiln. I wanted to give perspective on actually how small the research vessel is that we use when we go out for the orca encounters.

I took the boat picture from the deck early in the summer when the team was down south and travelling north past the Center.

Mt. Baker

Mt. Baker is one of the snowiest places in the world. It's been a joy on clear days to see the mountain while driving around the island or out in the boat.

I have come to love this mountain even though I've actually never been near it. It is not viewable from the Center so my jaw still drops on those lucky days that I get to see it.

I will dearly miss these serendipitous viewings more than words when I head back home for the Plains and will always remain smiley for the times the mountain showed its beautiful face to me.

Orca Encounters from the Center

I wish I would have kept track of how many times the whales passed by the Center and I have viewed them from the deck. I will never forgot the first morning I was here and the J-Pod swam north past the Center. I was overcome with gratitude and anticipation for the summer ahead of me.

As my journey here is winding to an end, I have sorted through some pictures of the scientists viewing the whales that I snapped at various times.




On a side note, every single day I have been blessed to watch a colony of harbor seals on the reef in front of the Center. There are babies still nursing easily viewable through the high-powered scopes. It's become a bit of a ritual of mine to drink my coffee and watch the seals in the morning.

Additionally from the deck, I've seen harbor porpoise, eagles, GBH, kingfishers, river otters and deer.

Dinners on the deck

One of my favorite experiences this summer has been having community dinners on the deck of The Center for Whale Research with all the different people that have filtered through this summer.

Many times, we would have the whales pass by at sunset while enjoying lively conversation with the Olympic Mountains and Vancouver Island in the distance across the Haro Straight. These times will remain some of my fondest memories of the summer.

Fog

Just for kicks here are 2 shots of almost the exact same view off the deck here around the same time of day.

Without fog:

With fog:

The fog has broke today but we don't know where the whales are.

All fingers are crossed that orcas will show back up soon!


All the best,
Michelle

Pelindaba Lavender Festival

Today I took a lunch break from my computer work here and drove over to the Pelindaba Lavender Festival.

The lavender farm is one of the most beautiful man-made things I have yet to experience.

All 5 senses were evoked:
1. Sight. Fields and fields of my beloved purple!
2. Scent. Heavenly and intoxicating lavender heavy in the air.
3. Taste. Lavender infused food and drinks.
4. Touch. Waving a hand across all the plants and making sachets.
5. Sound. Yes, sound. Thousands and thousands of bees.

15 acres of purple is truly a sight to behold should you ever find yourself on San Juan Island in the summer. Or for that matter, Provence. :-)


All the best,
Michelle

Tent

I've had many people ask me for pictures of my tent and I finally remembered to take them!

I love my tent! It's huge (11'x11') and bone-dry. It's been such a joy falling asleep to the sound of surf every night.

The only downside is that the ground is nowhere near level.

As you can see, it's in a path in the woods that butt up next to the property. The tent is actually on well-established deer trails so I often fall asleep to and arise to the sound of deer.

My favorite thing about the tent is that acoustically speaking, I'm at the best place on the property to hear whale blows if they pass by at night. And I have!




All the best,
Michelle

Morning Whale Watch

"Morning Watch" is something that the team here takes turn rotating through. Essentially, the job is to rise at around 4:30 a.m. and drive the Westside of the island where there are ample water views in search of whales. I've done this quite a few times now and must say it is an incredible sight to behold this island at sunrise.

The snow-capped Olympic Mountains are viewable as well as Mt. Rainier. In addition to the amazing mountains in the distance, this time of morning is exquisite for wildlife viewing. So far on Morning Watch, I've seen fox, eagles, seals, deer, hummingbirds, rabbits and porpoises. Actually seeing whales is unusual, but even without the whales it is well worth the early morning alarm clock.

I love doing Morning Watch because of all the photo opportunities as well as having the island all to myself:



All the best,
Michelle

My trip home to Indiana

I have just returned back to Washington from a whirlwind trip home to Indiana. I was home for a week but it felt more like 2 days! My husband is also pursuing one of his lifetime dreams this year which is to complete an Iron-distance triathlon this fall. He competed in his first half triathlon on Saturday July 14th at the Muncie Endurathon. Craig even had a friend make the local newspaper while cheering him on!

The half tri distances are: 1.2-mile swim, 56-mile bike and a 13.1-mile run. Yes, all together without stopping. :-)

I'm incredibly proud of him:


Now back to the whales!

All the best,
Michelle

Photos from the Superpod Encounter on July 4th

Who needs fireworks?

On July 4th, we went out for a Transient encounter to Photo ID them. After we were with them for about 20 minutes, the captain got a call that the K-Pod had arrived about an hour north of our location.

We quickly shot the transients and headed north.

When we arrived we were paid in dividends with not only the K-Pod, but a Superpod. It was singly, the most amazing thing I've ever seen with my own eyes.

It was like our human parties. All the whales were mingling and playing together. It actually sounded like fireworks because there were so many breaches.

I have uploaded some of my favorites shots to share that I took:




All the best,
Michelle

Another pic posted to the website!

Today the whales came by the house at 5:00 a.m.

We jumped in a boat and were out for 6 hours today. It's a particularly exciting time because the superpod formed just yesterday as the remaining K-Pod arrived in the Haro Straight.

In the last 24 hours, I've been in the boat 14 of them. Pics to follow after I sleep. This pic is not the best, just an artistic early-morning one that stood out to the webmaster.

July 5th pic

All the best,
Michelle

Photos from Craig's visit to Washington

Craig visited me out here in Washington. We spent 4 days in Seattle and 1 1/2 on San Juan Island. It was wonderful to have him out here to see my life while I'm away and to share this magnificient beauty with him.

We did downtown Seattle and the Space Needle. We went to the Space Needle just before sunset so we got to see Seattle from aloft during daylight, at sunset and at night. Gorgeous!!! You will see some shots of Mt. Rainier.

We took the bus/ferry to the island then a 9-seater plane from San Juan Island back to Seattle.

We will definitely be back. He's a smiten with Washington as I.

CWR Photo

I was able to get a couple of decent pictures of the Center for Whale Research from the boat recently.

I've uploaded them along with some photos of orca that I shot from the deck yesterday morning.

All the best,
Michelle

Database Project

I'm happy to say that I have received a database project from Ken to work on for the continuation of my volunteer time here this summer.


Essentially, I am finding gaps in photos for whales for each year. After that is done, each frame that has been shot in the last 30 years will be validated against the database.

All 80,000 of them!

It's an enormous project that will continue long after I'm gone. I'm thrilled that I am being able to make a contribution to this 30+ year catalog of the Southern Resident Killer Whales.

Hydrophone Replacement

Hydrophone replacement: A winter storm destroyed the previous hydrophone that was in front of the Center. Ken has been organizing the replacement of it for a few weeks now. This task has to be done during low tide. Usually this work gets started at 7:00 a.m. The bruntload of the work is done by the men carrying 200+ pound lead pipes down the the beach. Then handling the actual wiring.

My job is to help thread the wires down once the pipes are perfectly placed. The particularly tricky part for the men is when they are carrying the pipes across the "green" rocks. (I don't know if it's algae, seaweed or what, but it's extremely slippery.) I helped with one pipe over those rocks and am I ever glad that I only did one!!! There were even diver's here helping with the replacement.

There have been a few obstacles that have been resolved in recent days. The hydrophone is now working! Actually, there are three hydrophones in a "Y" shape.

Sunday was the first time I've seen the whales and heard them at the same time. It truly was a moving and multi-sensory experience that can't be topped save perhaps I dive with them. I'm amazed at how far away the hydrophones can pick up boat noise.

After the glitches are worked through, it will be able to be heard on the Center's website.

Identification Guides and Scanning

Lots of people have asked for descriptions of what I'm working on during my time here. And working I am! I'm typically working a full day each day.

I took last week off as hubby came to visit. Before that, I was primarily working on two projects: creating identification books and scanning old id photos from decades past to create of digital file of the photo. There are over 80,000 frames of the SRKW here, so they are starting with the best left and best right shot of the fin of each whale.

The identification books are fun for me because I love created things with my own two hands so this job is mine while I'm here! The ID books are changed every year with the latest pictures of each whale and information on recently born or recently deceased whales. The Center sells these books as field guides to any interested parties that will be in the waters with the SRKW as well as any other people interested in the photo ID project.

SRKW ID Guide

(As you can see, they are laminated so they can be used out in the rain in the boats.)

Here's a little visual for you to see the books created from start to finish:

This is a little project I will continue to do as needed throughout my time here.

One of my photos made the website!!!

Yesterday was an amazing day! It was my turn on the boat and we were out for over 6 hours. The most wonderful and unusual thing is that we were out by ourselves without any whale watch boats. That's especially nice because it's very clear then whether or not the whale wants to encounter us.

And that they did yesterday! It was some members of J-Pod. The K-Pod and the remaining L-Pod have still yet to arrive. Most of our encounters yesterday were with single whales and felt very intimate. Exactly the experience for which I have uprooted my life in hopes of attaining!!!

I captured an amazing shot of J-1 (the largest male of all SRKW's) spyhopping with snow-covered Mt. Baker in the background which is an enormous feat of which I'm incredibly proud. What a dream come true to be out here photographing the creatures I so adore!

Here is the picture on The Center for Whale Research website.

All the best,
Michelle

First Boat Encounter

Today was my first day out on the water!!! The L-Pod came into the Haro Straight (where I'm looking as I type) yesterday. Ironically, we had an "office pool" as to when the whales would come in and I won. We are still eagerly awaiting the summer arrival of the K-Pod.

It was an amazing experience that I will never forget. And the more amazing thing is that I get to do this over and over this summer!!! The pictures speak for themselves. These whales are a mostly J-Pod with some L-Pod mixed in.

All the best,
Michelle

Week 1-Check!

I have finished my first week here at The Center for Whale Research. It's been both eventful and restful at once. I have fully recovered from the long ordeal of my travel and am settled into the pace of life here. I have done a lot of chores helping to get the place ready for the busy time which is when the K-Pod and the L-Pod arrive for the summer. They should be arriving any day now. Each day we wait in anticipation as the whales get identified to see if they are K or L, so far they have always been the J-Pod. While we wait, we do chores around the property. The Center needs the most photo identification on the K-Pod and the L-Pods. When they arrive, the staff will start going out in the boat more frequently to photo.

I am enjoying serving in anyway that I can which so far has primarily been in doing chores, cooking, cleaning and helping enter data in the database. For the database, there is a need to enter data from logs for years prior to 1995. I have very much enjoyed learning about the work that is done here and look forward to being able to help more as I become more familiar with the work.

I heard whales last night from my tent which still completely blows my mind!!! (Pun fully intended.) I awoke in the middle of the night for the first time since I've been here and immediately heard a blow. I heard two more and then drifted back to sleep. Today I saw around 7 of the J-Pod orcas swim in a tight formation right by the Center. It was amazing to watch and see them all blow and surface one after the other. (We can't hear them blow from the deck of the center, only from the top of the hill on the property) This was my first time this trip seeing a tight formation swim. It's breathtaking.

The hydrophone is always on in the living room and it's a joy to keep an ear tuned to it. So far, I've only heard them on there once. The hydrophone is about a half mile away from the Center.

Yesterday was definitely the highlight of my trip, as I got to spend the day with Ken Balcomb who is the Executive Director of the Center here as well as a world famous expert on marine mammals, particularly orca. He had a former colleague staying for a day and took both of us around the island to view the whales. He planned on taking us out in the boat, however, the whales turned around making land viewing a better option.

His friend is Marisa who served with him on the Regina Maris while they were researching whales in Greenland a couple of decades ago. I so enjoyed hearing their stories about their summer so many years ago in Greenland. Everyone else went to town, so it was just the three of us which made for a superb atmosphere. I savored every single minute of time with both of them. Marisa is now a veterinarian in San Diego.

Ken told me about when the identification project was just beginning. There were and remain clearly divided sides: 1. Pro-orca and 2. Pro-marine parks. He told me of arrests made on him at the time while he was getting an accurate population count on the Southern Resident Killer Whales (SRKW), him fighting in Washington and winning. He even showed me Kanaka Bay which is a sight that the whales were penned in during capture until they could be transported to a marine park.

It was a humbling experience. I'm so grateful for the work he and so many others have done for the preservation of the SRKW. I've so enjoyed learning stories, matriarch lines and history on the J-Pod whales. Yesterday I made a positive identification on J-1 which was an exhilarating feeling!!!

I have a treat tomorrow, one of my friends is coming to visit me in Friday Harbour. I will be meeting Kari at the ferry terminal in the morning and we are staying at a hotel in town. I'm really looking forward to seeing a familiar face.

Until next time, here are the weeks photos (all taken from shore). No need to readjust your screen, it really is that gray here. I love the change of colors and how everything looks so very different hour to hour:
June 6 (Harbor Seals)
June 7 (Sunset)
June 8 (spending the day with Ken, Kanak Bay, whales near shore, new baby J-42)
June 9 (whales swimming in close formation)

Arrived and getting settled

I have arrived safe and sound into Friday Harbor at The Center for Whale Research and am starting to get settled into the routine of day-to-day life here. The Center is directly on the ocean on the west side of the island. From the deck of the Center, I can see the snow-capped Olympic Mountain range and Vancouver Island (Canada). Gorgeous, magical and mystical come no where close to describing the view I see out the window as I type this.

My travel here was filled with unexpected delays (Chicago Midway shut down, missed buses, missed ferries, etc.) HOWEVER-and this is a big however-every delay brought some unexpected blessing. Like seeing Mt. Rainier by air with a brilliant full moon on one side and the sun setting on the other, taking a later ferry and arriving to see the San Juans at sunset. Spectacular!!! There are 8 people here currently working including myself with the following countries represented: United States, New Zealand, England, Germany and Switzerland. There is a very friendly community feel to the Center. All of the people here are very dynamic, well-rounded people with great senses of adventure. I like each of them very much. Everyone shares cleaning, cooking, chores, etc.

I'm feeling more and more settled with each passing day. From my tent, I have a partial ocean view. The tent is very secluded with a winding narrow path into the woods to get to it. The land slopes towards the sea, so it's quite a bit different than camping on the Plains! No flat spots, but that just makes for a better adventure. An amazing thing is that from exactly where my tent is situated up the hill from the Center, I can hear the whales. I'm hoping I will be able to get to sleep sooner as time goes on. I'm feeling a bit like a kid on Christmas Eve fighting sleep with one ear always listening for Santa except I'm listening for exhales.

It all is still feeling like a dream to me. Particularly when I think about how many weeks I get to live this amazing life. Even when I'm doing mundane things like dishes after meals, I've got my eye on the water for the whales. I've been here 3 days and have seen the whales 5 different times from the deck of the Center. It's a dream come true for me to be here in this time and space here with the orcas.

The whales I'm currently seeing are the J-Pod Southern Resident Killer Whales (SRKW). It is time for the K and the L-Pods to arrive any day. So far they have not yet been spotted. Killer Whales are a matriarchal society and here is the matriarch, J-2 (aka "Granny"), spyhopping immediately in front of the Center last night.There is a pager system that tells the orca community by a sequence of numbers where the whales are traveling, their behavior, which way they are heading, etc. Combining this, seeing the commercial whale watching boats out the window and the "big eyes" binoculars set up in the kitchen makes for easy spotting when the whales are off in the distance. Once spotted, the scientist get to work identifying each whale and noting the time/behavior, etc.

I have been helping input data this morning. Yesterday one of the marine biologists let me assist her in identifying the whales in the pictures shot so far this season from the boats. I was amazed at how she knew the whales on sight! I can now identify 2 whales assuming I get a good side view of the dorsal fin: J1 (the largest male) and J28 (she has a very unique notch out of her fin). Last night, I knew J1 when he swam by!!! That was truly exhilarating.

I just spotted 6 harbor seals out of the window while eating lunch!!! Until next time, here are pictures of the ferry ride and my first shot at photographing the whales yesterday.