Stinky Bill and the new fuzzies

Meet Stinky Bill. He's a yearling gray whale who washed up ashore in 1995 and was then re-purposed as a learning tool by the Whale Museum.

And then, meet our new guests--the kittens! They'll be living in the same office as me, and already have named me as their favorite human playset, so you'll be hearing about them a lot! There are four of them, all tabbies.

This is Very Rowdy

This is Very Fluffy (with Very Happy on the right)

This is Very Little

Very Fluffy and Very Happy

Very Fluffy again

Very Little is so tiny! Look at him compared to my foot!

You'll hear more about them throughout the weeks ahead!

Thar She Blows!

Well, after a long absence of over five days, the whales have returned! L pod was sighted today off the coast of Lime Kiln. While I had today off, Cindy has just gotten new foster kittens and they were at the museum, so I headed over. During that time, we heard over the broadcasted hydrophones--the whales were near!

We all packed into the car and drove to Lime Kiln where we saw L pod coasting along. I did not have my camera with me, but I saw a bitty baby!

Sailboat Adventures

I was invited to join Jill and Bill on a sailboat adventure. Jill and Bill both work at the Whale Museum--Jill as the lady in charge of designing everything and Bill as a volunteer docent. Scott, another Wisconsinite, joined us as well. It was so much fun. The sailboat is Jill's--I call her Skipper Jill--but I got to steer it for a while!

Skipper Sarah -- but only for a couple of minutes!

Before we left, I got to see some baby jellyfish--they were so mini!

 

Scott, Jill, and Bill, my boating companions!

Jill

Bill

 There wasn't much wind, but while out on the water, I saw some pretty cool things.

We saw a seal out on the flat water

The ferry, heading to Anacortes

A peculiar rain-circle (opposed to the much more well-known rainbow)

The water

 By this time, I had settled into a comfortable position on the trip and then asked if, on the quiet waters, I could play some music. Everyone agreed, and thus I pulled out my phone and picked a song.

Those of you who know me are already probably reaching to hang your head in your hands, but I proudly admit it--I played Styx's "Come Sail Away." It was mood appropriate and I always appreciate a good pun. I wasn't thrown off the boat, so it wasn't that bad.

A house made of sod

And then we saw it--the elusive Mount Baker! Normally, when I had tried to see it in the past, it had been covered by clouds but now on a sailing trip, I finally got to see it!

Mount Baker arises!

Friday Harbor

More of Friday Harbor

 And then a water plane came down for a landing. We were so lucky to catch it!

 And then the ferry coming into Friday Harbor, with Mount Baker in the background.

Finally, we headed back to port, but I made sure to get a picture of me with Mount Baker in the background!

Adventure to the Middle School

Mondays and Tuesdays are usually my day off, but today I took a special detour from my schedule to help out with an educational program for the Spring Street Middle School. The seventh graders had a "Marine Exploration" day and I and Patrick (the head of the stranding network) worked together to create an interactive activity for the students to participate in.

For those of you who don't know, stranding is when a marine mammal is stuck on the shore and can't get back to water. There are a variety of reasons: sickness, injury, loose nets, and death, to name a few. Because of the Marine Mammal Protection Act, normal people can't touch marine mammals--so that means that even if an animal needs help or a body needs to be removed, it can't happen. Luckily, there was an amendment granted in the '90s that allows for trained people to remove and help marine mammals.

So the activity I created together with Patrick was a stuffed animal stranding. Children were given tape measures and stranding sheets and then a stuffed animal with some cards on top of it. The cards were used to convey information on the animal and gave specific information that was needed by the sheet. Then the kids measured their stuffed animal as if it was a real stranding. I think it was a pretty good hit. The students enjoyed both the stuffed animal and hands on activity where they got to touch the skulls and pelts of animals that had been stranded (the stickers proclaiming them "Junior Responders" were also a big hit).

I think it went very well and so did the teachers at the school and Patrick. I'm glad it happened. As it is now, I'm working at the gift shop until closing today--it'll be the first time I close by myself!

As for the previous week (or lack of posts thereof), nothing of real blog-worthy note happened. It was just me working at the shop and sitting in on lectures by Cindy. Soon I will have learned enough to start giving them on my own, I hope!

Seasick Sundays

So today during Soundwatch the tide was coming out. That made the water choppy and me seasick. I was pretty miserable, but luckily I got to get set aside ashore and wait in the harbor for Kate and Eric to get back. So, I've learned my lesson: I'm taking my motion-sickness meds before going out on a boat, even if I've been fine on calmer waters! I don't want to experience that again!

But J pod was out along the west side of the island, and so before I nearly lost my lunch, I got to see them being all playful!

Whale I'll be darned

I went on Soundwatch today, and boy oh boy did I see a lot of whales! It started off with seeing J pod and part of L pod as they were doing the West Coast Shuffle.

The West Coast Shuffle is when the Orcas go up and down the west coast of San Juan Island looking for salmon. There are three pods in the San Juan Islands, J pod, K pod, and L pod. They are what are known as Southern Resident Killer Whales and J, K, and L pod are considered endangered. But aren’t Orcas around the world doing well, Sarah, you may ask. How can these be considered endangered?

My friends, I shall tell you: there is not one type of killer whale, but three. They are called transients, offshores, and residents. Resident killer whales are whales that live in a particular area. The whales here are Southern Residents, which mean they go up a little bit into Canada, but don’t really go anywhere else, except for the ocean to follow salmon. The point is they mainly stay here: in the San Juan Islands. These Southern Residents only eat fish and were some of the most heavily hit by the captures for SeaWorld and aquariums during the 1960s and ‘70s. About a third of the population was taken away, and since Southern Residents only interact with Southern Residents, there are now only 83 whales where there used to be around 200. This is why they are endangered.

Eric, leader of Soundwatch

Among the whales, there are also transients and offshores. Transients are the killer whales that eat marine mammals, such as other whales, seals, porpoises, etc., etc. They travel in small groups all around. Transients are probably the reason why killer whales are called killer whales. Offshores are pretty much a mystery. They live, as the name implies, offshore and not much research has been done on them. It is thought that they might eat sharks, though. This is determined by the wear and tear on their teeth when the rare offshore body is found.

And now a pretty island

But back to Soundwatch today: the killer whales were not the only whales present: I also saw a humpback. It was so cool! My camera was acting up, but I managed to get a few shots. I also saw the flukes of the tail, but my camera would not cooperate, so you will unfortunately not get to see that magnificent sight. But it was awesome!

All in all, I spent about 8 hours on the water today. WOW.

The (Comparatively) Slow Day

The gift shop took up most of my morning today. I got to run the cash register while also assisting with the mailing. There are so many envelopes! Peggy Sue was watching me, but I basically got to do all the cash register stuff, so that was pretty cool. After my shift was done, I went to the library and checked out some books. If I haven’t said it before, I’ll say it again: for such a small island, the library here is fantastic!