October 13, 2023: SRKWs | Bush Point, Whidbey Island, WA

Date: Friday, October 13, 2023
Location: Bush Point, Whidbey Island, Washington
Weather: Cloudy, 61 degrees Fahrenheit with 8mph winds from SE
Tide: Flood to high
Pods: J, K, and L Pods (minus the L12s)
Total Whale Count: ∼63
Behaviors: Traveling, foraging, socializing
Boat Count: Unknown

Having encountered all three Southern Resident pods the previous day, we had anticipated they would still be around for today. Our hunch had been correct and the whales were first reported in the channel around Shoreline and Edmonds traveling northbound. There were multiple groups in various locations around the Sound, but the group around the Edmonds area was eventually confirmed to be Southern Residents.

We knew that the area they were heading to, known as Possession Triangle, was a difficult location to view them because of the distance. After watching a few updates, we decided to head out and track them down to see if they would continue to forage in Possession Triangle, or if they would make their way elsewhere. We started our day at Picnic Point in North Lynwood, where we could just barely see them in the distance with binoculars. It appeared that they were committing Northeast into Admiralty Inlet, and as soon as more people reported them committing to this direction and passing notable landmarks, we decided to take the ferry to Whidbey Island in hopes of catching them on the west side.

Not entirely sure on how fast or slow the whales would be traveling, we decided to head straight to the destination we wanted to intercept the whales instead of stopping and scanning at different locations, and we went to Bush Point. We selected this location as it is what we call a “pinch point”, where the distance between land points is more narrow, giving people a better opportunity to see whales from shore. From Bush Point, the whales are not always close to shore, sometimes they travel mid channel, and sometimes they favor the Kitsap Peninsula side, but we figured this view would at least be better than the looks we had seen earlier.

We waited at the beach for around two hours, chatting with other fellow whale watchers who had the same idea and were waiting for the whales to arrive. We knew the whales were slowly making their way in our direction, so at this point, it was just a matter of waiting. At one poin, Kylo the Orca Conservancy dog started barking at a seal in the water, and while we were all laughing over his excitement, someone had just arrived and casually pointed at the water stating, “Oh, there they are!” as the first group of orcas rounded the corner right off the point. Those of us who had been waiting at the beach for the last hour were completely surprised and immediately scrambled to get our cameras and equipment ready. As stated earlier, in this location we are used to seeing the whales further out in the channel, however, some of the groups were very close to shore on the Whidbey side, causing the point to block our view of their arrival. It was quite exciting with how close to shore they were.

The first group that passed off the point and close to shore was a large group comprised of a mix of Js, Ks, and Ls. We observed a few breaches and a lot of social behaviors. We were able to get positive IDs on K42 Kelp, K43 Saturna, K16 Opus, L55 Nuget, and J19 Schachi. There were other whales in this group, but we were not able to get IDs on all of them based on lighting or not clear enough visibility on saddles. We were able to get an ID on K16 Opus, because in one shot she was displaying surface activity and interacting with another, sticking her face out of the water where we could see the small freckle she has on the right side of her chin.

The second group that passed off the point and close to shore was J38 Cookie, with L110 Midnight, and his mother L83 Moonlight. The two males (L110 and J38) seemed to be traveling closely together and socializing, with some surface activity including a tail slap from J38.

The third and final group that passed close to shore off the point was a group of 5 individuals comprised of J27 Blackberry, J31 Tsuchi, J56 Tofino, K22 Sekiu, and K33 Tika. They took their time rounding the point, and when they were in line to the beach they stalled out for a few minutes displaying some social and surface behaviors, including a spy hop by K22. At first we thought J31 was the individual spy hopping based on the white jagged markings on the chin, but later upon checking the eye patches we realized it was K22 and she too has a similar white pattern on her face which was exciting to note/

Throughout each close group pass, there were mixes of other whales mid to west of the channel. At one point we did see L105 Fluke from afar, along with K20 Spock and calf K45 Prosper, and the J16s. The mix of the J11s and the K12s rounded out the final whales of the group, and eventually, they left our view making their way further north into Admiralty Inlet. At this point, we decided to call it a day with daylight receding quickly.

Learn more about J, K, and L Pods on our Meet the Southern Resident Page.