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.