Orcas in the San Juan's?

[Lutarious]

So we finally got back to Olympia about 15 minutes before the rain. Looks like our cruising in the Sn Juans is going to be a bit different than forecast. Everyone on the boat wants to know if we will be seeing Orcas?

 

[GFC]

No. They're a publicity stunt put on by the whale watching tours to get people to go on the boats. If they don't see whales they give you a free tour, but most of the people have gone back home by then.

Just kidding, of course. There are some areas where you are more likely to see orcas. One of those is along the west coast of San Juan Island, but it's dependent on the season.

 

[Rebel112r]

Very good chance of seeing Orcas. West side of San Juan Is is a good choice. Turn Point on Stuart Is and all of Boundary Pass are good spots. Call one of the whale watch charters, out of Friday or Roche, they might help you out when you get up there. The different outfits all talk to one another, something like 60 boats out there, and they have hydrophones at different spots, so if they are out there they usually know where they are at.

 

[rochepoint]

No. They're a publicity stunt put on by the whale watching tours to get people to go on the boats.

 

[markpierce]

Seals in Carquinez Strait?

 

[DCBD]

Not sure if they still do or not but the whale watching boats used to communicate on VHF channel 71. So you might try listening in if you're out and about.

 

[kolive]

We seem to see the Orcas on a incoming tide on the west side of San Juan Island from Cattle Pass all the way to Open Bay. Last month we were fishing that coast and had them around us three days in a row. Oddly enough we only caught fish when they came our way. It was like they were herding the salmon towards us. We always picked up gear and went into neutral when they were around and had them approach quite closely and even swim directly under our Willard 30.

 

[Nomad Willy]

Orcas are highly over rated. The're just sea cows that think the're fish.

I always thought they knew exactly where we were w our engines running and they almost certainly do but I still ran right into one .. T boned him at 6 knots. Eight tons meets 30tons? Everybody survived but now I stay well away from them. And then I had a policy of not altering course to get closer to them. And I didn't on collision day.

I think there should be no commercial whale watching and boaters should stay basically far to well away from them. Most don't though. Accidentally getting close or steering toward them is IMO harassing them.

Beautiful to watch but Mother Earth probably wouldn't miss them much if they were to become extinct. There would just be lots more seals and fish. Ever watched a cow Orca teaching her young how to kill and eat seals? It's a bloody mess and happens in Thorne Bay at times.

Mark are those seals or sea lions?

 

[DCBD]

I think there should be no commercial whale watching and boaters should stay basically far to well away from them. Most don't though. Accidentally getting close or steering toward them is IMO harassing them.

 

[Rebel112r]

This should generate more posts than the anchor issue. Great stiiring the pot many boats!?

 

[markpierce]

...

Mark are those seals or sea lions?

Sea lions. I should have said "pinnipeds" to be safe.

 

[Tacomasailor]

Don't need to go to San Juans

Between Alki and Restoration Point in May. I've seen way more Orcas in the Sound south of Admiralty Inlet than in the San Juans.

 

[kolive]

Wow, that was a fast thread creep. I thought the OP was asking about possibly seeing Orcas in the San Juan's. Suddenly it is about whale watching and what you think about Orcas and Whale Watching? Maybe that should go to a different thread to be continued. Not trying to start an argument, just trying to stick with the original question.

 

[Edelweiss]

Unfortunately, the resident Puget Sound Orca pods eat salmon and not seals and sea lions.

I would gladly contribute to a fund aimed at teaching our Orcas the value of eating our overabundant population of seals and California sea lions instead of the tons of salmon they consume.

PS: Here is a web site that may give you some insight on where to look . . .

http://www.orcanetwork.org/nathist/salishorcas1.html

 

[Sisuitl]

Not sure if they still do or not but the whale watching boats used to communicate on VHF channel 71. So you might try listening in if you're out and about.

Some of them show up on AIS as well. If you see a cluster on the other side of the island you know something's going on.

 

[Boydski]

Some of them show up on AIS as well. If you see a cluster on the other side of the island you know something's going on.

It's a dead-giveaway when you see the whale watching boats turn their AIS off and then turn abruptly. The last couple of years, I've seen more Orcas Southeast of Lopez Island than I have off the West side of San Juan Island.

We have also spotted porpoises almost every weekend in South Puget Sound and Grey Whales north of Seattle.

 

[Moonfish]

This time of year the resident orca travel all around Puget Sound, not just in the islands. So you may see them on your way north! Here's a Facebook page that gives updates on the orcas location as well as any other whale sightings in the area, including humpbacks, grays, and minkes.

https://www.facebook.com/OrcaNetwork?fref=ts

 

[Opu]

Re:mark

Seals in Carquinez Strait?

There used to be seals lounging on the San Diego channel entrance buoy until it sank several months ago. They initially said they were going to replace it with a virtual waypoint.

On the other hand we've seen a few blues down here in SoCal recently.

 

[hollywood8118]

Orcas are highly over rated. The're just sea cows that think the're fish.

I always thought they knew exactly where we were w our engines running and they almost certainly do but I still ran right into one .. T boned him at 6 knots. Eight tons meets 30tons? Everybody survived but now I stay well away from them. And then I had a policy of not altering course to get closer to them. And I didn't on collision day.

I think there should be no commercial whale watching and boaters should stay basically far to well away from them. Most don't though. Accidentally getting close or steering toward them is IMO harassing them.

Beautiful to watch but Mother Earth probably wouldn't miss them much if they were to become extinct. There would just be lots more seals and fish. Ever watched a cow Orca teaching her young how to kill and eat seals? It's a bloody mess and happens in Thorne Bay at times.

Mark are those seals or sea lions?

wow... one could have a field day with this one.

HOLLYWOOD

 

[Nomad Willy]

Go ahead hollywood 8118,
You going to make a case for the value of Orca's?
Or getting among their midst?
Or saving the whale watchers jobs?
Or Orca's eating seals?
Or do you see something I don't see?

Not much else going on on this forum anyway.

 

[psneeld]

And I'm the bad boy bozo...wow.....

just goes to show you....

I have dozens of slides of Orcas through out the inland passage and Antarctica....useless??? Well...there's plenty of things on this planet that some consider useless....

 

[OFB]

Orca are part of a very interconnected system here on earth.

Humans seem to be the odd man out !

 

[Marin]

Beautiful to watch but Mother Earth probably wouldn't miss them much if they were to become extinct.

I think Mother Earth would miss the Orcas going extinct a lot more than she'd miss us going extinct. I would, too. And since the possibility of man disappearing seems to be getting slightly better with each passing day, perhaps she and I will both have our opinions eventually become reality.

I put a lot more value on a whale than on a human. Humans are just animals with a dictionary. We're it not for the dictionary, humans would be pretty much the most valueless animal on the planet in the universal scheme of things, at least in my opinion.

Right now the earth can ill-afford to lose a whale. But the earth would be infinitely better off if it could lose three quarters or more of its humans. I suspect that, one way or the other, this will eventually happen. The balance of life on this planet has been correcting itself since day one. I see no reason to think that the corrections will not continue.

 

[Nomad Willy]

Do you know about that OFB?

What would change if Orca's suddenly disappeared.

I'll start ... there would be a lot less poo in the PNW waters and more seals and salmon. However the Orca's poo is probably fly stuff compared to the humpback's contribution. And that's probably fly stuff compared to the discharges from cruise ships.
Some businesses would find better things to do than harass wildlife.


Marin,
Humans beyond any reasonable doubt have a very negative "value" on this earth.

But what would actually change?

 

[Marin]

What would change if Orca's suddenly disappeared.

A big part of the wonder of living on this planet would disappear, and our lives would be less fulfilled for it.

If I see you walking down the street I am not only not going to care, but my seeing you is not going to make my experience on this planet one iota better.

When we see a whale in the islands, or an eagle, an otter, or a deer, our experience on this planet becomes a lot more meaningful, enjoyable, and valuable to us.

 

[Nomad Willy]

So Marin I'm hearing you say the value of Orca's is in the warm and fuzzy feelings of the most worthless animal on earth. Man of course.

You're talking about whales and deer and eagles. Where's the talk about bugs ... and insects. They have a lot more to do with human well being than whales.

 

[hollywood8118]

So Marin I'm hearing you say the value of Orca's is in the warm and fuzzy feelings of the most worthless animal on earth. Man of course.

You're talking about whales and deer and eagles. Where's the talk about bugs ... and insects. They have a lot more to do with human well being than whales.

I believe the Orca has it's own part in the marine ecosystem, as do the seals, dolphin, salmon. Stating that the planet would be no worse without any of them appears to be a pretty shallow view.. kind of surprises me that anybody that enjoys the marine environment and all it has to offer would have that point of view.
And don't for one minute think I am any form of raging environmentalist.. my likes are diesel burning boats, fast cars, guns and killing and eating any delicacy that happens to find it's way to the end of my spear gun.
As far as the whale watch business I do have a personal connection with it and feel strongly that it is worth while as both a business.. and a way for the public to get up close and personal with the Orca's.. which in turn has helped to both provide all kinds of public supported funds for marine research.
Just to be able to watch the Orca up close and realize the close family bond in the pods are an amazing this to experience.

HOLLYWOOD

 

[Marin]

You're talking about whales and deer and eagles. Where's the talk about bugs ... and insects.

I think they're all important and have a role to play. Man in his arrogant ignorance tends to look at other forms of life only in how they might effect him. But there's a lot more going on here than just man.

In fact more I hear, see, and learn about man's effect on just about everything, the more convinced I'm becoming that nature picked the wrong animal to periodically control its population by conducting mass migrations that result in severe cullings of the numbers. Instead of the lemmings running their surplus population to death, I'm thinking it should be us.

And I suspect that at some point, it will be. In some way or the other.

 

[Wxx3]

Great observation Marin,

And how can it not be us at some point?

The dinosaurs lasted 180 million years.
Humans have been here at most 1 million, homo sapiens less then half of that.

 

[Nomad Willy]

And the ant has had his social structure intact for 160 million years.

And re Marin's comments (excellent) man's time on earth may be quite temporary and his efforts to survive lacking objectivity.