Southern Resident KELŁOLEMEĆEN

September 08, 2025

SRKW with research vessel

After a week off the water while our vessel underwent maintenance, we were treated to Southern Residents in the Salish Sea. The Southern Residents have not been in inland waters of the Salish Sea as often as usual this summer, so seeing them has been extra special. We got news that J and L pods were off KEXṈIN,EṈ (south San Juan Island), the southern area of our traditional territory. We transited down Haro Strait with our eyes peeled, and from outside the voluntary vessel exclusion area off the West Side of San Juan Island we saw members of J pod shuffling along the coast near KEXṈIN,EṈ. We travelled up and down the San Juan shore, from outside of the vessel exclusion area, and saw more whales travelling west offshore at the south end of Haro Strait. We headed towards these whales to get a better ID and determined this was members of L pod who were accompanied by multiple other research vessels. We kept a great distance and left the whales to continue their journey.

All photos are taken with a 200-600 zoom lens.