Meg McDonald was the first to hear echolocation clicks and calls of southern resident killer whales this morning at 6:37. The automated detectors at Lime Kiln also recorded calls or clicks from 6:38 through 9:23. See below for a catalog of the automated spectrograms and recordings, which include many S2 calls and some S4s suggesting the J and L pods may be present. Faint calls are still being heard on occasion as this post is typed (~9:45).

This evidence of foraging is interesting in part because it suggests the orcas may have been some of the first fishers to catch some Fraser kings in the Einar Nielsen Becky Barr Fishing Classic which began today at dawn and is based out of Roche Harbor on San Juan Island. The Classic is named in part for San Juan Islander Einar who died of a heart attack while hauling in a hawg near Kellett Bluff. Follow what salmon get caught over the weekend at http://www.enbbfishingclassic.com/ and their Facebook page.

If you’re out there fishing in the derby or boating near whales this busy weekend, be sure to read and abide by the new Federal rules governing vessel interactions with the endangered orcas that are icons of the Northwest along with the salmon being hunted today. Further details about the rules and estimated penalties for violating them can be found in the Beam Reach wiki.

33 Detections

2011-09-29 06:38:46 node=lk dB=118 trigger=PWR	2011-09-29 06:40:49 node=lk dB=104 trigger=PKT
2011-09-29 06:41:10 node=lk dB=104 trigger=PKT	2011-09-29 06:41:36 node=lk dB=119 trigger=PWR
2011-09-29 06:43:16 node=lk dB=104 trigger=PKT	2011-09-29 06:45:46 node=lk dB=105 trigger=PKT
2011-09-29 06:49:53 node=lk dB=110 trigger=PKT	2011-09-29 06:50:04 node=lk dB=104 trigger=PKT
2011-09-29 06:52:55 node=lk dB=108 trigger=PKT	2011-09-29 06:53:24 node=lk dB=107 trigger=PKT
2011-09-29 06:54:32 node=lk dB=110 trigger=PKT	2011-09-29 06:55:04 node=lk dB=113 trigger=PKT
2011-09-29 06:55:46 node=lk dB=114 trigger=PKT	2011-09-29 06:56:19 node=lk dB=115 trigger=PKT
2011-09-29 07:20:24 node=lk dB=127 trigger=PKT	2011-09-29 07:20:34 node=lk dB=123 trigger=PKT
2011-09-29 07:28:40 node=lk dB=120 trigger=PKT	2011-09-29 07:32:25 node=lk dB=122 trigger=PKT
2011-09-29 07:32:35 node=lk dB=116 trigger=PKT	2011-09-29 07:32:45 node=lk dB=121 trigger=PKT
2011-09-29 07:32:55 node=lk dB=121 trigger=PKT	2011-09-29 07:33:06 node=lk dB=114 trigger=PKT
2011-09-29 07:59:44 node=lk dB=113 trigger=PKT	2011-09-29 08:23:10 node=lk dB=113 trigger=PWR
2011-09-29 08:25:33 node=lk dB=106 trigger=PKT	2011-09-29 08:30:06 node=lk dB=103 trigger=PWR
2011-09-29 08:30:32 node=lk dB=105 trigger=PWR	2011-09-29 08:32:05 node=lk dB=104 trigger=PKT
2011-09-29 08:32:15 node=lk dB=105 trigger=PKT	2011-09-29 08:40:12 node=lk dB=100 trigger=PKT
2011-09-29 08:53:09 node=lk dB=107 trigger=PKT	2011-09-29 09:04:48 node=lk dB=100 trigger=PKT
2011-09-29 09:23:35 node=lk dB=97 trigger=PKT