Dick Cheney and our Orcas...

This is turning out to be an unusual year for seeing Killer Whales on the West Side of San Juan Island. 

By this time of the year we are usually seeing J Pod on a daily basis. Not this year. They were in the area last Friday and Saturday, after being absent for almost 5 weeks. (During that time we were seeing a lot of Transients, the mammal eating Killer Whales.) 

Then they disappeared for two more days and but returned yesterday. And now they are gone today. Last night they were headed west toward the Pacific, which is one of the places they "vanish" to from time to time. Why? We don't know for sure, but it's likely that they are looking for a good supply of food, which for them is Salmon, not seals and other marine mammals.

And that brings me to the issue of the state of our salmon. Not good! 

Officials have banned salmon fishing in all of Oregon and California due to the lowest numbers of returning Salmon in memory. The stocks of salmon have crashed in those states due in large part to policies of our federal government. They have allowed the building of dams, clear cutting of water sheds that flow into spawning streams, pollution in countless forms, and a century of overfishing. 

And  DICK CHENEY! 

Yes, Bushie VP Dick Cheney, the master of darkness, one of the chief architects of the Iraq War, perhaps the worst expression of U.S. policy since slavery. His fingerprints are all over the largest kill of  salmon in the history of the world in the Klamath River in 2002. (www.indybay.org/newsitems/2007/06/27/18431074.php

If we don't restore salmon stocks, many feel that our local killer whales are doomed. No less than Ken Balcomb, the #1 expert in the world on our resident orcas, feels that is true.

And why don't we ban salmon fishing in this area?

More in the next blog.

Capt. Jim

mayaswhalewatch.biz

Where Is J Pod...

May 1 has come and gone and NO J POD! Is the sky falling?

Usually by this time of the year we are seeing J Pod every day.  J Pod is one of the three Resident Pods of the Southern Resident Killer Whales of Northwest Washington. The Js are the pod that stays in the general area of the San Juan Islands and the Salish Sea all year long. It's the pod that is seen much more than the pods, the Ls and the Ks. Js are seen often, sometimes every day for weeks, somewhere around the islands from May 1 through October. We haven't seen them for over four weeks, not even a rumor. Hmmmmm.

So what does this mean? It means they are late. Most likely they have found a lot of Salmon out there near the mouth of the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and are happily munching away. 

I remember one year when the Ks didn't show up until July. The sky didn't fall. It's not falling today.

Have a good one. It'll be in the med 60's here today, and sunny. Yea.

Capt. Jim

Maya's Westside Whale Charters

San Juan Island, WA

mayaswhalewatch.biz

Ling Cod Season Opened Today

So, do I go whale watching or fishing? Hmmm? Yep, I went fishing!

A lot of people don't know about Ling Cod, an amazing fish of the Northwest. First there is Salmon, and then Halibut, and then...Ling Cod. Lings can grow to five feet and weight 75 lbs, they look prehistoric, and for many, they are the best tasting fish in the Northwest. I know for a fact they make the best fish and chips.

My brother is a gourmet eater! After he moved to the island eight years ago, the first time I had him over for dinner, I served him my special Ling Cod Fish and Chips. He asked what we were having, and I told him we were having fish and chips. He kinda stuck his nose up in the air, and said, "Fish and chips?"

My brother is not quick with the compliment, but after dinner he took me aside and said, in a whisper, "Jim, that was the best f*****g fish I've ever had! What was it?"

Ling Cod fish and chips...

I wish I would have caught one...

Capt. Jim

mayaswhalewatch.biz