Northwest Dive Club

Being Covid cautious, most of our whale watching this year has been from home. This means we see the same gray whales that have been bottom feeding for years, the venerable "Sounders". Their feeding strategy seems to have served them well. The experts, observing them with drones, noticed they have fattened up while here in Puget Sound, and they have all survived two mortality events when large numbers of the greater gray whale population perished from malnutrition.
This year we noticed something different. Sounders have been arriving at their normal feeding grounds accompanied by newcomers, sometimes a couple. I mentioned this to a professional naturalist on a whale watching boat, and she noticed the same thing. Here are a couple of examples. In the first picture you can see the pectoral fin of one whale feeding on its side while a second is blowing close behind it. The next photo shows how close they can be to each other. This may be fanciful thinking, but I can't help but wonder if the Sounders are showing the newcomers new feeding grounds, like an old fisherman letting a youngster in on a secret fishing hole. The feeding whales stir up a lot of stuff, attracting seals and birds. The next picture shows a gray whale with a characteristic "heart shaped" spout. We celebrated our vaccination by going out with Westport Seabirds. The whales appeared as expected, gray whales near shore and humpbacks farther offshore. Dall porpoise provided a treat for me as they schooled around the boat. They are so fast that I usually only get a photo of a splash. These little black and white beauties
look like mini orca. Here is a pair. -Curt

Interesting. After all the bad news about starving whales ending on beaches, it is great to hear that "our" Sounders are doing OK. And sharing their good fortune with new ones ...

Very cool!

So amazing! I love the heart spout