T71s T40

May 7
At 4:19 p.m. on May 7th, 2009 Center staff Dave Ellifrit, Erin Heydenreich and guest John Boyd responded to a report of Transients off Kelp Reef as well as J pod off the South end of San Juan Island. The T71's (T71, T71A and T71B) and T40 were encountered at 4:33 p.m. just north of Kelp Reef (48° 33.15 N, 123° 13.54 W). The whales were actively hunting a Steller Sea Lion. The transients continued to attack the sea lion for about an hour. The sea lion was determined to have been killed around 6:00 p.m. At 6:21 the encounter ended and the transients continued traveling slowly north at (48° 34.39 N, 123° 13.48 W). Center staff continued down the west side of San Juan Island in search of J pod.