J Pod on the Orcasound hydrophone in Haro Strait

It was a wild morning on the west side of San Juan Island! Between 7 and 9 AM J-Pod calls were clearly audible on the Orcasound hydrophone in Haro Strait. I scanned from several locations on shore and the Center for Whale Research was searching from the water, but we couldn't find a single dorsal fin! The hydrophones will only pick up calls within line of sight, so we knew they couldn't be too far, but it sure felt for a while like they must be invisible.

Js were audible on the SIMRES hydrophone in Boundary Pass last night, so our assumption was they were southbound. Enough hours had passed, however, that it was also possible they went down Rosario Strait overnight and were in fact northbound. As a result, we had no idea whether we should be looking further north or further some as time went by.

Thanks to a colleague out of Victoria who found them westbound a couple hours later, we were to piece the puzzle together. The whales must have been southbound, and given where we had eyes searching, they must have been far west in Haro Strait close to Vancouver Island.

In case you missed tuning in live, here's a clip of the vocalizations we heard. It's amazing how the whales can sound so close while being so far away! Our guess is they must have been at least 5 miles from the hydrophone when this was recorded. It's mind-blowing how even a group of 27 orcas can essentially disappear right in front of our eyes.