Beam Reach

Gorgeous, gorgeous, and oh, gorgeous!

I thought things at Beam Reach were awesome last week, but man, they just keep getting better and better! These past few days have been absolutely STUNNING! It’s been clear, sunny, and even a little wild on the water! Monday we had some wild waves, and had our first true chance to test our sea legs. Luckily we all passed the test, and had a blast sitting out on the bow of the Gato Verde, enjoying the sunshine and salty wind on our faces as the boat plowed through the most significant waves we’ve experienced yet! And the best part was that we got to see orcas after riding what felt like a mini roller coaster!

Yesterday and today have been some of the most beautiful days we’ve had out on the water. It’s been bright and sunny and clear, and there have been huge, and I mean huge, amounts of whales gathered together! Today there were at least 40 clustered into 2-3 groups and we saw almost the same yesterday–someone (sorry, not sure which whale watching operator it was) called yesterday one of the best days of the season, and I believe it! The orcas were resting for a good portion of the day, and it was crazy to see them all gathered together, rising and falling in uniform synchronization in such huge numbers. Suddenly, around Turn Point, the whales woke from their resting state, and almost flew down the coast! They would absolutely blast through the water–it was porpoising like I’ve never seen before.

You truly get an idea of their speed and power when they’re in travel mode! We even got to observe foraging behavior, as many of the whales stuck around to feed, making quick lunges, deeper dives, and moving in random, sporadic movements! All the behavior changes were great for me, since part of my research question will be comparing echolocation click rates and behavior states; I got a lot of excellent data to analyze!

Today was just a continuation of yesterday’s amazing weather and behavior. I have never (granted, I’m still a newbie at this whale research thing) seen as many whales grouped together as I did today. We heard that members from J, K and L pods were clustered in the super-pod we followed! In addition to huge numbers of whales, they were so active: so many breaches (I saw at least 30!), spyhops, tail slaps, peck slaps, nuzzling…you name the behavior, the whales were doing it! I think they were enjoying the beautiful weather just as much as we were! I was honestly star-struck by the number of whales and gorgeous behaviors we saw today. I was honored to be able to observe their world, and so thankful that Beam Reach has given me this wonderful opportunity to pursue my love of orcas! I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again (likely every post I make!), these whales are more than gorgeous, they’re more than amazing. They inspire me to do everything in my power to help them, and I’m so glad that this is my life right now. I love every second of this!

Whales and Sailing on the Gato Verde

After cleaning and getting everything in order while at Friday Harbor we had the rare chance to sleep in the next morning before taking off again. Once we were back on the water we were lucky enough to finish our day with learning a new form of sailing which involved the screecher sail. aptain Todd is great teacher for sailing, and on Monday we were out on the west coast of San Juan Island clinging to the side of the boat in 20 knot winds learning how to deploy the mainsail and the jib. This was a perfect first day back on the boat, because it had a little bit of everything. We started the day with some amazing sailing in 2-4 foot waves; which didn’t agree with everyone on the boat unfortunately. After sailing for a few hours we found the whales, and the wind died enough to allow for the hydrophones to be deployed. Two sets of high quality recordings were made while we were surrounded by the whales, and the the amount of data we have is slowly getting bigger each day. We ended our night in Prevost Harbor, which gave everyone a chance to take a walk and stretch their legs. On the way to Prevost 5 or 6 Dall’s Porpoises began to bow ride on the boat, and they stayed there long enough for us to get some pictures of them underwater. This day was timed perfectly for the birthday of our professor Val, and on top of everything else that happened we celebrated his birthday with a delicious coffee cake after another great dinner.

Tuesday brought another great day on the water. The Captain continued our boating education with a lecture on the tides in the Salish Sea. Tides are very important for navigating any type of boat, however the tides throughout the Salish Sea are especially strong, and they can be dangerous if you don’t know what you are doing. After our tide lecture we managed to find the whales again, and we stayed with them for most of the day. At first they were resting, which means they move slowly in a close group, and they don’t produce many sounds for us to record. This changed by the end of the day when the whales woke up from their nap, and we had a front row seat to watch them breaching, spyhopping, and socializing in general. Seeing the whales foraging and playing was a great way to end the day, and we then headed back to Prevost Harbor for a journal club discussion with an amazing sunset as the background.

Wednesday was definitely one of the best days we have had with the whales so far. We followed 30 or 40 whales, which is almost half of the entire southern resident population, while they were resting, and when they woke up it was amazing. We witnessed close to 30 breaches, countless tail slaps, and the whales continued to “play” for over an hour. I will remember this day forever and we have some great pictures to help share the experience.