J pod has a new baby born within the past week :)

More photos of southern residents taken off San Juan Island, June 4, 2005.

Today was a bit rough on the water so we were out for half the day. Managed to get a sample ambient recording near Kellet Bluff in a sea state of 4. We saw a group of six harbour porpoises traveling east at noon 2 mile off the bluff (48' 32", 123' 13"). This maybe the species the transients were feeding on the other day.

The Marine Monitoring Program now has a flickr site!

Today started out a bit windy and rainy but ended with glorious sunshine and calm water. We watched a single transient in the morning (10:30) off 10-mile point until it reached Trial Island. Then a humpback whale appeared off the northwest end of Discovery Island and we followed it into the middle of Haro Strait (12:00). A report of 6 transients showed up about 3 miles off the northeast side of Discovery Island and we monitored the few boats with the whales (T20 and T21 group) until the end of the day. We watched them hunting and acquired a lung sample from one if their kills.

New M3 blog

J pod photos

Out on the water today with M3, we saw L pod near Lime Kiln State Park.

Humback whales were spotted in Haro Strait today!

Amazing Crittercam footage! from a study by Cascadia Research

Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nation Announces New Guardianship for Tsu'xiit

Today was my third day out on the water with Marine Mammal Monitoring (M3). It was a gorgeous sunny day with J pod. There were lots of breaches, spy hops, and a female had fun with a kelp mass breaking off form the group to have a little rub. I witness the same behaviour last year with the northern resident population as a baby pushed a kelp mass up with its head until a male headed over and they swam off together.

Today was my first day out on the water with M3. The whales were too far east and west but we went to Race Rocks and saw some pinnipeds, including Steller and California sea lions.

I am now located in Victoria on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. As the Marine Mammal Monitoring Biologist, I will be out on the water educating boaters about Whale-Watch Guidelines and conducting the Acoustic Monitoring Project.

I was interviewed yesterday, on camera for two hours, by Mountainside Films for their Luna Book.

Whale-watch guidelines

Anti-fouling paint

Bob Hunter will be deeply missed.

Low frequency sonar is used by the US and UK to detect new ultra quiet submarines. These sound bursts are very loud at over 200dB. The low amplitude waves of energy travel long distances and are still very loud and harmful to marine mammals and humans over a 1oo miles away.

MMFN stewardship updates