May 29, 2024: J Pod | San Juan Island
Date: May 29, 2024
Location: San Juan Island, WA
Weather: Partly cloudy, 50 degrees Fahrenheit, with 16mph winds from W
Tide: Flood
Pods/Individuals: J19s and others
Total whale count: ~6
Behaviors: Traveling
Boat Count: 0
Observer: Tamara Kelley
Members of J Pod (Photo by Tamara Kelley)
Sometime in the afternoon reports of J Pod heading south from Canadian waters. Having missed Js the previous day when I was on San Juan Island, I checked the ferry schedule and availability and decided I would take the gamble to head back up in hopes of seeing them. From where Js were spotted, I anticipated I would have anywhere between 4 to 6 hours before they would be by the island.
I was able to get a drive up space and make it onto the ferry. However, as the ferry was departing Js were being seen on the west side. I wasn’t sure if I would catch them, but at this point I was committed and in route, so my hopes were that they would stick around and do what we call “shuffle” (where they travel back and forth).
After about an hour ferry ride I was on the island and headed straight for Land Bank, located on the west side of the island. I could see a few individuals traveling away from me in the distance. Given that I was running out of daylight I made the decision to stay overnight on the island. I had to grab a few things and dinner in town before stores closed, and I thought this would be a good opportunity to keep checking the reports while I had reliable service. I wrapped up my errands and as I was heading back to the west side, J pod flipped and started traveling north again.
I made it back to Land Bank as the sun was starting to set, making for a beautiful view. I wasn’t able to see all of J Pod, but I did catch the entire J19 matrline go by with other individuals. Due to the low lighting, I wasn’t able to positively ID all the individuals that were present.
As the whales continued their way north I saw young J58 Crescent being quite playful and getting piggyback rides from her mother J41 Eclipse.
J Pod is one of three pods within the critically endangered Southern Resident killer whale population. J Pod consists of 6 matrilines and 25 individual whales.
Learn more about J Pod and all the 25 members on our Meet the Southern Resident Page.