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sisterspooky1013 · 2 years

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Waldron Island, Chapter 7

Rated X | read it here on AO3

It was all a blur, details running together in a haze of smoke and exhaustion. The statements given to a perplexed Sheriff Sharp, the windswept ride back to Orcas and the alarmed look on the face of the hotel clerk as they checked into one room, mud-caked and stinking like campfire, unwilling to be separated. Somewhere in the chaos they’d lost track of Paulette, but they no longer had the will to worry over her, sensing that she could take care of herself. They must have showered, perhaps had eaten something, but all he could remember was the cottony soft press of the pillow against his cheek and the deep, dreamless sleep that followed.

When he woke, the ambient light of either dawn or dusk filtered in through the sheer curtains and the phone beside the bed was trilling angrily. He rolled over and snatched it off the cradle, pressing it to his cheek with a garbled “hello?” He felt the bed shift and looked over his shoulder to see Scully closing the bathroom door behind her.

Five minutes later, he hung up the phone and flopped onto his back, staring up at the popcorn ceiling. He had slept soundly for what the bedside clock told him was close to twelve hours. He felt rested physically, but mentally was harder to pin down. Was this a dream? Would Scully walk out of the bathroom with her weapon drawn and shoot him? Would the hotel burn up with them both trapped inside? As much as he hoped it was all over, he’d been fooled before.

The snick of the bathroom door caught his attention and he lifted his head to see Scully shuffle out, a weary expression on her face. He smiled weakly and rolled out of the bed, passing by her on his way to the bathroom. He used the toilet, brushed his teeth, and studied his reflection in the mirror. His eyes were still quite red and a bit puffy, but the bags underneath were markedly less pronounced. Four days worth of stubble darkened his cheeks and had surpassed prickly, well on the way to a fully fledged beard. He felt like he could sleep for another twelve hours and it still wouldn’t be enough.

Back in the room, Scully was huddled under the covers, curled on her side facing the middle of the bed. He joined her, finding her eyes open but unfocused. They laid like parentheses, foreheads and knees nearly touching. They were quiet for a long time.

“Who was that on the phone?” she finally asked.

“Sheriff Sharp,” he answered, his voice scratchy from the smoke. “They got a team out early this morning and found the Tsuru family buried behind the cabin. Margaret and the kids were near each other, and Harry was buried upright in a spot that they think was the former location of the outhouse.”

She pursed her lips and nodded softly. “I don’t know how to explain...how did we know where to look?” she asked, bewildered.

He shrugged. “I don’t think we’ll ever know how, or why.”

She sighed deeply, the minty waft of her breath tickling his cheek.

“How are you feeling?” he asked softly.

She lifted her eyes to meet his then, and the earnestness in her expression was jarring.

“You know that moment when you wake up from a nightmare and your heart is racing, and as soon as you realize it wasn’t real you have this incredible surge of relief? And then the memory of the dream just...fades away?” she asked. He nodded, gravely familiar with the sensation. “The details are fading, but I never had that moment of realization. It feels more like childhood memories; I know it really happened but it feels so far away. I don’t know, it’s strange.”

He watched her talk, the pale blue of her irises framed by blonde, un-mascaraed eyelashes and pinpricks of caramel freckles scattered across her cheeks. The familiar sibilant cadence of her speech soothed his frayed nerves and he wanted so badly for it to be her, for this moment to be real.

“Are you okay?” she asked with so much compassion, and his heart ached with want of her comfort. He couldn’t bring himself to answer so he just pushed his mouth into a performative smile and shrugged as he felt his throat swell with impending tears, which he tried desperately to fend off.

She scooted closer and draped her arm over his waist, pulling herself flush against his chest. She tucked her face into the crook of his neck and whimpered sympathetically, one hand rubbing circles on his back. As she held him, he felt her lips brush against his collarbone and the hot press of her breath on his neck. He heaved a staggering sigh, inhaling the cinnamon-sweet smell of her. It was part motel soap, part toiletries she’d brought from home, and part something new, something he’d never smelled before. He lifted his hand to thread his fingers through her hair, scratching at her scalp. Her hair was like corn silks, baby soft and fine, another quality he’d never noticed. Everything about her felt new. The press of her breasts against his chest through her pajamas, her hip bones protruding into his belly where she was tucked tight against him.

A pained smile blossomed on his lips as he realized that this felt new because it was. He’d never held Scully this closely, this intimately, fresh from sleep and vulnerable. In his dreams, the details were manufactured by his imagination because that’s all that was available, not having actual information about how she’d look naked, how she’d behave in bed, how her body would feel. The fact that this felt entirely foreign to him was that surge of relief, that moment of realization that this was really her, here in his arms. This was not a dream.

He pressed his nose into her hair and inhaled deeply, savoring the newness that signified realness. Next, he brushed her hair away from her neck and nuzzled against the skin there, soft and sweet and novel. He felt her stiffen a little and pulled back so he could see her face, an unabashed grin stretched across his mouth. She was eyeing him skeptically, her eyes glistening.

“It’s you,” he proclaimed.

A cautious smile tugged at the corners of her lips. It was a quintessential Mulder, you’re crazy smile that he never imagined he would be so happy to see. He brought his palm to her jaw, brushing a thumb over her cheek.

“We’re gonna be okay,” he said confidently, and he could immediately see the way his conviction fortified her. Strong and fearless, brave and tough, soft and sweet, his Scully.

They hovered there in a space between alternate planes of existence. Dream and wake, real and artificial, then and now. Backing away from the trauma of what had befallen them over the past week, they had a choice to make: return to the sphere in which they were coworkers and friends, putting all of this behind them, or journey down that darkened, other path. The one for which they could not see the final destination, but knew they would travel side by side.

The slightest arch of her neck, the widening of her pupils, and a sharp intake of breath sent his blood rushing, fleeing every corner of his body in pursuit of the need he had abdicated every day for six years - to see her as a woman and not just his partner, to touch her for pleasure instead of comfort, to know her body as well as her mind. Perhaps it was the exhaustion, or perhaps his gauge for what was worth being afraid of had been irreparably altered, but suddenly the path he’d never been brave enough to so much as look down seemed like the only one worth taking.

He bent his head forward and brushed his lips against hers, the heat from her mouth like a beacon. He could feel her heart pounding against his sternum, betraying her calm exterior. He moved to her neck, dropping featherlight kisses down the ivory column of her throat and then nuzzling his cheek against her jaw. She giggled, a tiny, hidden treasure of a sound, and he lifted his head in pleasant surprise.

“Your beard is scratchy,” she explained with a bashful smile, and god, he was so in love with her.

He brought his lips back to her neck, dragging them back and forth languidly. “I can go shave. Do you want me to?” he asked, arousal thickening his voice like honey. She shivered, not from cold, and he smiled against her skin.

She didn’t answer, but snaked her hand up to his neck and scraped her fingers through his hair with a hum. His already hard cock lurched at the sound. What other sounds might she make? What sounds could he make her make? He’d imagined her every way possible: quiet and stoic, loud and brazen, sassy and bossy. The idea that he might soon have the answer to which of these personas were the right one made his head spin.

When he lifted his head again, she arched into him and pressed her hot little mouth to his, urgent and confident. She didn’t wait a moment before her tongue grazed the slick inner orbit of his mouth, and he didn’t wait a moment before he granted her access. She kissed like she handled her weapon: self-assured and intentional, knowing exactly what her target was and hitting it. Every. Single. Time. Not until that moment did he realize that while he had kissed dozens of women in his life, he had never truly been kissed back. She tugged at his lips with her teeth and a fleeting flash of fear shocked through him, but the next second she was peppering his cheek with kisses, tender and affectionate. Her, really her.

He was so enamored with the way she was invading his mouth that he didn’t realize her hand had trailed down and under the waist of his sweatpants until her fingers squeezed the flesh of his bare ass cheek, and he bucked into her with a groan.

Some corner of his mind, the rational one that respected Scully above and beyond his need to get laid, implored him to stop and make sure that this was what she wanted, that they weren’t making a mistake. He broke the kiss and leaned away from her with the intention to ask, but then she was pushing his shirt up and off his torso and the question was answered beyond a reasonable doubt. She wanted him as much as he wanted her, possibly even more. The knowledge that she may have felt the same way, for who knows how long, made him love drunk and euphoric.

He flashed his eyes up to hers as his fingers met with the pearlescent buttons on her sensible blue pajama top, and she looked as high and wanton as he felt, pink cheeks and swollen lips below the bottomless galaxy of her eyes. Pulling the satin aside, he felt like he could cry at the sight of her: pinched, strawberry nipples and buttermilk skin. He wanted to devour her, to taste every corner of her being, to dissolve into her flesh and never leave her side. He dipped his head and dragged the rough of his tongue over one of those sweet strawberries, and the fluttering moan in her throat nearly made his head explode.

He hitched himself up and over her hips, straddling her as his lips and tongue worked over every square inch of her torso. Looping an arm around her waist, he yanked her up to tear away the remaining fabric of her top and she submitted to him without question, her chest pitching towards him like a figurehead on a land-bound ship knowing precisely where it intends to go. As he released her, her hands went instinctively to his neck and pulled him back down with her, where he followed with equal trust and dedication.

His kisses trailed down and down and down until he was pulling at the elastic of her pants with his teeth, his tongue darting just under the hem with unrestrained eagerness. Before he had the chance to tug them further down her hips, to throw her those questioning eyes that would confirm that this was still what she wanted, it was her own fingers hooking over the fabric and pushing it lower, past the jutting peaks of her hip bones and the tender flesh of her lower belly. When he saw the ginger thatch of her pubic hair instead of panties, he sunk his teeth into the skin above one of those proud hip bones and groaned. He looked up at her face and found her smiling coyly, her lip pinned between her teeth. She knew exactly what she was doing to him and she was enjoying every second of it. He crawled back up to her and pressed a plush kiss in front of her ear. “You’re incredible,” he whispered, and she laughed prettily.

At some point she had fully discarded her pajama bottoms and her bare legs threaded around his waist, pinning him to her with impressive strength. He could feel the scratch of downy hair against the skin of his back and she gave him a fleeting doubtful expression, which he returned with a questioning one.

“I haven’t shaved my legs in...a long time,” she admitted with an edge of self consciousness.

“Me neither,” he quipped, and then kissed her fully on the mouth as he pressed the rigid length of his erection against her vulva.

Her hips rose to meet his, her mouth stilling as she pulled in a quavering breath. He rocked against her, still a layer of cotton between them, and swallowed each of her breathy whimpers as they escaped her lips. Her hands slid from his back to his waist, lower to his hips, and inched under the elastic of his pants without urgency. She tugged and pushed, and he decided that now was the time to be absolutely, unequivocally sure. He brought his lips to her ear, flicking the tender lobe with his tongue and then dragging it gingerly through his teeth.

“Are you sure?” he asked, perfunctory and without concern that the answer would be anything other than yes.

“Are you?” she asked in return, and he lifted his head to give her an incredulous look.

“I want you more than I’ve ever wanted anything in my life,” he said earnestly, and her mouth stretched into a wide, toothy grin just before he felt her toes hook under the waist of his pants and push them down his legs.

He kicked them aside with very little grace, immediately laying his hot, urgent flesh in the valley of her thighs. She startled and clutched him to her with a tiny “oh,” and he tucked his face into the crook of her neck as he ground against her. She was plush and slippery, and he felt like he could come just knowing that his cock was soaked with her wetness. Her hand snaked down between them, grasping him firmly and making his head swim as she gave him a few slow pumps and then poised him at her entrance.

He kissed her feverishly and then held his cheek against hers as he focused on moving slowly, not wanting to hurt her. Inch by inch, he was enveloped into her, blazing hot and tight as anything. She felt so good that tears pricked in his eyes, the surge of emotions and sensations needing somewhere to go other than through the tip of his dick. Finally, he was fitted snug against her, his balls resting against her ass. He kissed her again, a dozen little grateful pecks, and then rested his forehead against hers. They were both panting hard, though no one was exerting much of anything, overcome with anticipation and excitement, that tiny edge of doing something you’re not supposed to do always alluring to them both for different reasons. Her hands on his cheeks were familiar, the brush of her thumbs over his lips a common comfort in an entirely new context. He drew out and pressed back in just once.

Her gasping sigh washed over him like the tide, pulling him under. He withdrew and thrust in again, more firmly, and she breathed out, “oh, god.” He felt his frontal lobe shutting down, the lizard brain sneaking up to grab the wheel, and he had just enough higher reasoning to ask “can you come like this?”

She wriggled her hand down between them, nestling it over her clit, but he was so close and she didn’t have enough space to move. Unwilling to sit back and lose the access to kiss her and catch every single sound that left her lips, he pulled out and hauled her up and on to her knees, then moved behind her. Sitting on his haunches, he dragged her into his lap and routed back inside, pulling her legs wide across his thighs and taking her hand, bringing it back to touch where she needed it. Her back was pressed firm against his chest, one of his arms wrapped around her waist and the other stroking the goosefleshed skin of her breasts. She craned her head to the side and tilted it back so he could kiss her and whisper declarations of pleasure into her waiting mouth.

The movement of her arm captivated him as he slipped in and out of her, unable to resist watching as she touched herself. He closed his eyes when it became too much, insistent on waiting for her, rolling a nipple between his thumb and forefinger as her breath quickened. When he leaned forward slightly, changing the angle, she gasped and grabbed his forearm, which he took as a nonverbal ‘right there.’ He increased his pace just slightly, as much as he could tolerate without falling over the edge himself, and she went rigid in his arms.

He felt the rumble of her moan against his chest right before he felt the clench of her around him, dissolving into a symphony of throbs and whimpers. She started to go limp and he clutched her to his chest, feeling his own orgasm coil in his belly and then hit him with the force of every lonely night he’d touched himself while thinking of her, every time he thought about kissing her but convinced himself she wouldn’t welcome it, every time he thought he’d lost her but she came back to him.

He lowered them to their sides, staying inside her, and peppered her neck with kisses as they returned to earth. As he should have suspected, she was all the things he’d imagined she might be: stoic and brazen, sassy and sensual. Never in his wildest dreams could he have conjured up the brilliant complexity of her; never could he have known just how good she would feel. And she was real, as real as rain and gravity, as true as hope and love, as tangible as the earth. She was more than he could have ever hoped for, more than he deserved. Everything he wanted.

He reached for his discarded t-shirt and pressed it between her legs to contain the mess as he slid out of her, then snuggled up against her back, their skin damp and sticky. He draped his arm over her waist and she took his hand, clutching it to her chest between her breasts. They were quiet for a long time, breathing returning to normal and the rush of dopamine fading.

“What should we do now?” he asked hesitantly, the question having several meanings.

She turned within his arms, scooting up a bit so they were nose to nose. Touching his cheek, she kissed him softly and sighed.

“Let’s go to sleep.”

Tagging @today-in-fic

#the x files #txf #dana scully #fox mulder #x files fanfic #case fic #case file #xf fanfic

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snini-9 · 4 years

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Happy Birthday L83 Moonlight!

“Happy 30th birthday, L83! Thirty years ago today, the Center for Whale Research was fortunate to see and document L83 on the day she was born. The encounter with Southern Residents on July 27, 1990, turned into a memorable day: L83’s birth, followed by a Superpod.

Are you a Center for Whale Research Member? If not, consider becoming one. Your financial support helps us continue our studies and speak out on behalf of the Southern Resident orcas. Learn more >

L83 breaching in 2018 (Photograph by Dave Ellifrit, CWR)

This is the way Dave Ellifrit remembers the day of L83's birth.

July 27, 1990, started early. The skies were partly cloudy with fog in the south of Haro Strait. Somebody was up and paying attention, saw activity on the water, and shouted “Whales!” to staff sleeping in tents and campers in the yard. We crawled out of our sleeping bags and made it down to the Center for Whale Research’s oceanfront deck by 0700 to watch and record K pod and most of L pod heading north. The whales headed past CWR in a loose group with a larger tight group of L pod whales behind them. All of L pod except for L1, L35, L54, and L65 of the L35 matriline were present.

We noticed that L47 was trailing the large group of L pod whales by about 50 yards and was moving slowly as they went by. Shortly after the whales passed, a big fog bank rolled up the west side of San Juan Island. We were socked in for the next couple of hours. Later that morning, the fog finally burned off some and receded back down the west side. A few of us decided to go see if we could catch up to K and L pods.

L83 on the day she was born, July 27, 1990 (Photograph by Dave Ellifrit, CWR)

Kelley Balcomb-Bartok, Earthwatch staff person Rhonda Claridge, and I went out in 18-foot-long Namu, a boat on loan to Kelley and owned by Bob and Jean Van Leuven (previous owners of Western Prince). We saw our first whales on the northwest side of Stuart Island, right around the corner from Turn Point. We only saw two whales at first. They were hard to get close to and identify against the dark shoreline of Stuart Island.

The whales turned out to be L21 and L47. They were constantly changing directions. There seemed to be something strange about their behavior, and we eventually noticed something odd about the wake L47 was making. Finally, when the lighting was right, we saw a tiny, brand new calf with a flopped over fin next to L47! The calf—to be newly minted L83—had obviously been born since L47 passed CWR earlier that morning. There was a chance that it had been born right in front of us! L83 was L47’s first documented calf. The three whales straightened out and began traveling northeast up Boundary Pass. It became a very peaceful scene, and we soon left the new trio so they could have some alone time.

Sixteen-day-old L82 with L55 (Photograph by Dave Ellifrit, CWR)

L62, L80 and L27, 1990 (Photograph by Dave Ellifrit, CWR)

Just a little over two weeks earlier, our colleagues Robin Baird and Pam Stacey had witnessed L55 give birth to L82 near Victoria. Their observations were quite different from ours. They reported several whales being involved and lots of splashing. The newly born L82 got thrown around a bit before all the whales porpoised west in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. It sounded so much more frantic compared to the quiet scene we had just witnessed. CWR staff got to see and document L82 two days after she was born. She seemed fine after her rough welcome to the world.

After reflecting on what we had just witnessed near Turn Point, Kelley, Rhonda, and I scanned for the rest of K and L pods. We found them deep in Boundary Pass heading northeast past Sandy Point on Waldron Island. They were acting excited and traveling quickly northeast in the direction of Patos Island while in a loose group with lots of splashing going on. When we were over halfway between Skipjack and Patos Islands, we just happened to look north. We suddenly noticed that J pod had arrived from the Strait of Georgia and were now lined up abreast and logging at the surface on the south side of Patos Island. Waiting for the Ks and Ls to arrive. We wondered if K and L pods would form up in lines and face J pod in a classic “greeting ceremony.” But K and L pods just trickled into J pod, and then the party got started.

K5 taillob, 1990 (Photograph by Dave Ellifrit, CWR)

L10, 1990 (Photograph by Dave Ellifrit, CWR)

While we didn’t get to see a greeting ceremony, we did have a classic Superpod on our hands. Everywhere you looked, there were large balls of rolling, socializing whales. Individuals would move from group to group. It was not uncommon for a whale from a group we had just left to magically appear with the whales we were currently looking at. It was hard to keep track of everything going on. Once, while we were all looking in one direction, we heard a little trickle of water behind us. We all jumped in surprise as L10 blew loudly right beside the boat.

Superpod socializing, 1990 (Photograph by Dave Ellifrit, CWR)

K17 following around L11 and L77 (Photograph by Dave Ellifrit, CWR)

The Superpod went on for the next several hours. The whales were still socializing when we left in the early afternoon. Only when we were leaving did we see L21, L47, and L83 again. They were on the very periphery of the socializing whales and did not look like they wanted to partake in the partying.

Center for Whale Research staff would see L83 again about three weeks later. She would, obviously, grow up over the years to be a big, healthy-looking Southern Resident female. She had her first documented calf, L110, in 2007.

1990 was a good calf year for L pod and the SRKWs in general. When we saw L pod for the first time in mid-June, there were already two new calves. L27 had shown up with her third calf, L80, and L60 had her first documented calf, L81. Then L82 was born on July 11 and L83 on July 27. L pod had a third summer baby and its fifth of the year when L84 first appeared in late August, traveling with L5 (even though it was L51’s first calf). And a sixth calf, K24, was born to K14 in the late summer, although we only saw it once in late September.

L47 and 18-day-old L83 (Photograph by Dave Ellifrit, CWR)

1991 would bring more Southern Resident calves and some confusion. K14’s calf, K24, was gone, but K13 had a new one. We wondered if some calf switching had been going on before we looked at the eye patches and realized they were two different calves. It turned out that K14 had lost her calf while K13 had her second calf, K25. This was the first time we really began using eyepatches to confirm calves’ identities. During their first year, when they experience really patchy skin. We had a similar problem when L51 showed up in 1991 with a calf that we originally called L85, and then we called L28’s new calf of the year, L86. We eventually figured it out that L85 was L84, and it really was L51’s calf. L5 must have been helping out L51 with the care of the new calf. This is something that we have seen several times over the years in births involving new mothers. So L28’s calf became L85, and L4’s new calf was L86. This caused a whole lot of erasing on our ID sheets. Back then, we use to ID every frame of the black and white ID film. And this, we often reminded our Earthwatch volunteers, was one of the reasons we always did our IDs in pencil!

Fall of 1991 would bring two more Southern Resident calves when we first saw J26 and J27 on November 2—both under two weeks of age and J26 with part of his umbilical cord still attached.

Unfortunately, we just aren’t seeing this kind of calf production in Southern Residents anymore. Both L82 and L83 are well into their reproductive years and could easily have had three well-spaced calves each by now. And yet, L83 has a single 13-year-old male offspring, and L82 has one 10-year-old male offspring. This has become a worrisome trend in recent decades. Of the sixteen SRKW females born since 1990 who have been recorded with a calf or were thought to be pregnant at some point (J28, J31, J32, J35, J36, J37, J41, K27, K28, L82, L83, L86, L90, L91, L94, and L103), nine currently only have a single male offspring, two (J36 and L90) currently have no offspring at all, and three (J28, J32, and K28) are dead. Another five SRKW females born during the 1980s (J22, K16, K20, K22, and L72) also only had single male offspring. Another couple of SRKW matrilines only have male offspring, and three adult males are the sole survivors of their respective matrilines. We are looking at a lot of dead-end matrilines and a major population crash in the coming decades if more female calves are not born into the Southern Resident community.

L83 at 29 years, 363 days old (Photograph by Dave Ellifrit, CWR)

Baby booms like the one we had in 2014-2015 won’t do any good if the calves don’t grow up and reproduce themselves. Of the eight calves born and named in those two years, six were males. One of the two female calves from that period has since died along with two of the males. Unless we can provide the whales with proper amounts of salmon and reduce the contaminants in their blubber messing with their immune and reproductive systems, the Southern Resident community will continue to decline.

We are doing our best to keep a positive attitude and will continue to document and monitor the population dynamics of the SRKWs in the coming years. We hope we will be celebrating L83’s and L82’s fiftieth birthdays twenty years from now and that they will be veteran grandmothers by then!”

Article taken from this CWR blog post. All credits go to them, I’m just passing it along.

#L83 Moonlight #L83 #Happy Birthday #SRKW

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islandadventureswhales · 4 years

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Port Angeles and Anacortes Port Angeles We had another gorgeous day with a light wind and blue skies. Pigeon Guillemots greeted us at the dock and a lone harbor seal was on the beach at Ediz Hook possibly ready to give birth. Heading on out into the straits we encountered rhinocerous auklets resting after eating on a bait ball. Further west we had a group of harbor porpoise pass by us. We continued onward and suddenly a humpback appeared not too far in front of us . As we slowed down and waited for the humpback to appear she popped up just off our stern along with a calf. It was a cow /calf pair and we tried hard to ID mom but she was more interested in traveling west underwater and not fluking while her calf played at the surface . We were treated to some acrobatics from the calf including breaches, caudal peduncle throws, tails lobs , some pectoral slaps and a few flukes held high in the air as if he was doing a headstand. That was a marvelous start to our day and we enjoyed every minute until we finally left them to press further west. We sure were glad to have continued our adventure out west as we ran into the big group of humpbacks again and they were all lunge feeding and rolling on their sides showing us pectoral fins and flukes. We even found BCZ0298 Split Fin and to the surprise of the people on the bow he did a big lunge right in front of everyone. It was amazing out there with humpback whales all over wherever we looked. We eventually had to head back home for the evening but it sure was hard to tear ourselves away from all that activity. Everyone had the most amazing time and the ride back to the dock was pleasant with the wind at our backs and the sun warming us up. - Lee

Anacortes

We had a most excellent adventure today in the Salish sea with lots of wildlife and whales. With blue skies all around we headed out of Cap Sante marina and into the great unknown. We saw a bunch of great blue herons in the shallows outside of cap sante and the picked up some speed. Our first stop was at Black rock just off Blakely island where we found an adult bald eagle and a bunch of harbor seals hanging out. From there we headed north along the Blakely shoreline and tucked into the San Juan’s for a beautiful cruise. After making our way through Pole pass we picked up speed and headed over to Spieden channel where we joined up with a humpback whale! It gave us some great looks and even showed its flukes off for us a few times before we continued on allowing us to identify the whale as MMZ0004 "Zephyr". From the humpback we headed north toward Waldron island and joined up with JPod one our fish eating orca whale groups. They were very spread out and engaged in foraging behavior with some playful activities occasional on the side. It was such a great feeling to see some of our southern residents back in the area. After some breaches, pec slaps and an overall amazing show we began to make our trip back to Anacortes. We hadn’t gone far when Captain Carl spotted another group of orca whales just off the shore of Johns island. It turned out to be the T65A’s and we got a great show from them with some eagles flying over the top to boot! It was such an amazing time with perfect weather and some of the most amazing whales we have seen this year.

- Tyson

#IFTTT #Blogger

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sisterspooky1013 · 2 years

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Waldron Island, Chapter 1

CW: suicide, violence | Rated X | read it here on AO3

He walked toward the water’s edge, the sandy beach giving way under his heavy steps. The quarter moon reflected brilliantly on the surf that lapped calmly against the shore, the soft hush of the waves a lullaby at nearly 3:00 am. It was too dark to see the landmass of Orcas Island across the sound, making the expanse before him feel limitless, ominous and consuming.

A gust of wind pushed a spray of sand against his cheek and he lifted his hand to brush it away, wincing as he felt the sticky smear of blood commingle with grains of sand and his third-day stubble. He heaved a shuddering breath, holding both trembling hands out before him and studying them in the moonlight.

Her blood, some cuts he sustained in the struggle, a strand of her hair. He choked back a sob. What had he done? But she was going to kill him; it was eat or be eaten. That’s what he was pretty sure had happened, but the details were becoming a little hard to keep straight.

He could picture her eyes, wild with fear and surprise as he lifted the fire poker above his head and brought it down against hers. Eyes he’d looked into thousands of times, ocean blue and serene. Trusting. Later he’d seen them again, flecks of blood drying out against the whites as they stared, infinitely open, no longer able to blink.

He stepped closer to the shoreline, startling at how cold the water was, when a stronger wave pushed it up and over his bare toes. This was going to be harder than he thought, he realized. A strange thought to have when you just beat the love of your life to death with a fire poker, really. Nothing should be harder than watching her skull crumple under the force of your own hand, continuing on until dental records would be required to positively identify her. But cold water, yes, that’s difficult to endure.

He took several quick steps, pausing when the water made contact with his scrotum. He pulled in deep breaths, plunging his hands into the water by his hips and letting the salty brine wash away her blood. Several more quick steps until it reached his armpits, and again he stopped to breathe through it, to acclimate. He swam out, gasping at the chill, until he could dunk his head under without feeling the ocean floor beneath his feet. Turning to face the shore, he pictured her back on the floor of their cabin, the dying fire keeping her body warm for now. But not for long.

“I’m sorry,” he sputtered out, his lips quivering and dripping with seawater.

Sorry to her, sorry to her family, to his family who would be confused about why he had done this. He wasn’t sure he knew the answer himself.

He dunked under the water again and pulled in the largest breath he could manage. A wet, watery breath that startled him even as he knew it was coming. In his panic, he tried again to bring in oxygen, a reflexive gasp that only flooded his lungs further. In short order the panic began to subside, replaced with a calm resignation, a drowsy acceptance. The cold no longer bothered him. He sunk further, the darkness enveloping him, a watery hug that held the promise of reprieve.

On the surface, a few bubbles rose and popped soundlessly, the final gasp of a story that they would both take to their graves.

#case fic #case file #the x files #txf #dana scully #fox mulder #x files fanfic

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islandadventureswhales · 5 years

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Anacortes

10 AM

It was a spectacular day to be heading out into the Salish sea, with blue skies all around and a warm breeze dancing through the air. We headed west in Guemes channel and south in Rosario strait making our first stop at Colville island. Here we found a nice group of harbor seals warming up on the rocks, as well as, a few out fishing in the bull kelp. A little further along the island, an adult bald eagle was perched on the rocks staring off to the west. We continued west from there and Captain Carl discovered a minke whale just west of Iceberg point on the south side of Lopez island. We got in a few great looks as the minke whale was devouring the local bait balls that were forming up. After a few great looks the minke actually began moving off and out of nowhere a humpback showed up. It turned out to be MMX0006 and was attempting to feed on many of the same bait fish the minke was taking advantage of. We got a lazy fluke and after that we knew it was time to travel on and find some more wild life. We headed along the coast of San Juan island to the shores of Stuart and joined up with The fish eating orcas known as Jpod. They were foraging along the island and a few younger animals in the group were getting a little playful. We got a great spy hop and even a couple lazy breaches from some of the teens in the pod which was super awesome to see. From there we waved goodbye to Jpod and headed north around Stuart island and joined the T36A’s just off Point Disney on Waldron island. They headed over to a small wildlife refuge known as white rocks and began hunting the many harbor seals that surrounded the area. We then waved goodbye to the Biggs orcas and began to make our way back through the heart of the San Juan islands. It was an amazing trip full of whales and wildlife and some of the best weather this month has seen!!!

4 PM

This afternoon the warm weather poured into the area as we made our way west toward Thatcher pass. We made our first stop at Pointer island where we found a nice group of harbor seals warming up in the afternoon sun. From there we cruised through the inner islands and made another slow down at Pole pass where we found all sorts of sea birds hanging out and of course more gorgeous views of the San Juan islands. We headed further west from there and joined the T36A’s near Skipjack island just north of Waldron. We got some amazing views and for a brief instance the orcas gave some thought of going on the hunt. T36A(mom) however had other plans involving nap time and after some amazing looks at the orcas it seemed as though they slipped into a resting pattern. Having already spent an amazing time with these orcas we decided to continue on to see what else we could find. At Sucia island we found a couple of adult bald eagles and had great looks at an active nest before pushing over to Clements reef. Here we found a nice big group of Steller sea lions, hanging out on the last bit of rock still poking out of the water. From there we continued south, winding in and out of the outer islands before heading over to Lummy rocks. When we neared the rocks we found a few harbor seals feeding on some fish and doing their best to horde it away from the gulls that were coming in. After a fun little show we continued on around the back side of Guemes island and made our way back to Anacortes having completed another great day on the water!!!

Port Angeles

What a beautiful day it was with blue skies and the Olympics in full view. Our harbor seal gang was hauled out on the end of Ediz Hook as we started our journey. We started out heading northwest and as we passed the Elwha Valley we saw an exhalation of a humpback. We headed over to check him out and found a sleepy traveling humpback heading eastward. We stayed with him for a bit but he never fluked so we never were able to ID him. A few miles to the north of us a pod of transient orcas were just found and we made our way over to see them. By the time we got there they had been down for 8 minutes and were being hard to keep track of. All the whale watch boats were spread out looking for them to resurface and they were spotted once and then did a magic disappearing act on everyone. We stayed for a bit continueing the search to no avail. Another humpback was not far away so we checked him out and found our friend MMX0167 Stitch heading southwest at a good clip. We had some nice flukings from him. He then took a really long down dive and finally when he reappeared he surfaced right next to the boat thrilling everyone. We could see him under water as he swam next to the boat and then passed in front of the bow and out beyond us What a cool encounter. After that we let him continue on in his journey and we made our way over to Race Rocks. Harbor seals were sleeping in the kelp despite all the noise from the California and steller sea lions arguing. We started our journey back to Port Angeles keeping an eye out for any whales along the way but we had a quiet trip back to the harbor.

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islandadventureswhales · 5 years

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Anacortes

We left the docks this morning with the goal of avoiding the winds in the South and decided to head North. We were lucky that we made a great call as the weather was beautiful and the whales we were hoping to find were found up North as well! On our journey up towards Canada we stopped along the way at Peapod rocks where we were able to see some harbor seals laying out in the sun along with a mature bald eagle hanging out on the rocks! We then continued our way around Orcas island towards Canada and did a slow down along Ewing and Sucia Island where we were able to see three bald eagle’s nests and a mature bald eagle hanging out in the trees as well! It did not take too much longer after that slow down to arrive on scene just North of Waldron Island with multiple marine mammal eating orcas! Just a few minutes after we arrived on scene, we saw a bigger member of the T65A family spy hop off of our bow! We were also able to see great looks at these whales and even see them hunt! They were tail slapping and celebrating their kill, they even brought their lunch up to the surface! It was National Geographic uncut out there today! Eventually, we had to make the turn back to Anacortes, but we got to go home a completely different way home! We made our way by Spiden and San Juan island and got to go through Pole Pass as well, one of our favorite spots to explore! The cruise home was calm and filled with blue skies, overall it was a great trip and a great day to be out on the water exploring!

-Clare

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islandadventureswhales · 7 years

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Anacortes

10:00 AM

The morning skies were bright blue and clear as we got off the dock! We made our way towards the South end of Lopez where we did our first slow down. We saw a bald eagle, turkey vultures, and some harbor seals. We then made our way towards West where we came across the T46's and others swimming in all different directions. They were porpoising like crazy for most of the time we were on scene with these whales. We then made our turn towards home and came across some stellar sea lions along whale rocks. We then made our way through some of the San Juans back towards home. It was a beautiful morning trip full of wildlife!

3:30 PM

This afternoon was filled with blue skies and whales! We made our way towards Waldron Island, getting some beautiful looks of the San Juans along the way. We arrived on scene with tons of different groups of whales all spread out all around the area! We went and saw the T46's who were eating some dinner! They were pretty active along the surface and even spy hopped! We then made our way towards Spiden Island where we saw the T34's with some other whales mixed in as well. They came right to the back of the boat and spy hopped right off the back of the boat! We then made our way back towards the dock with a beautiful sunset and views of Mt. Baker in the background.

Port Angeles 9:30 AM

Sunny skies and fairly calm seas made for a great start to our day. Lots of huge tankers were out and about and the pilot boat was kept busy as we headed into the straits on our search for whales. We headed northeast and it wasn't long before we heard about orcas by Discovery Island also moving east. We knew we had a long haul to catch up to them but everyone was up for it so off we went. By the time we caught up with them they had made it closer to San Juan Island. We had come a long way to see these orcas so we spent over a good hour admiring them and watching as they slowly traveled along. It was a family of transient or Bigg's orcas known as the T46's. With two large males in the family it was easy to distinguish the family apart and compare the males females and juveniles orcas. Sadly we had to depart back home after spending a great morning with this family so we said our goodbyes and once again trekked across the straits always on the lookout for more whales.

3:00 PM

The afternoon continued to be sunny with a slight chop to the water so we headed in a northeasterly direction and lo and behold not far from Port Angeles we spotted a group of orcas. It was hard to keep track of them at first caused it seemed like they were going in all directions but we knew we had a big male and a female together and then at least 3 other orca popped up near the boat but they seemed to be going west. we waited until they resurfaced and seemed to be having more luck with the pair of transient orcas so we stuck with them. They turned out to be a mother/son duo named T11 Wanaka and her 39 year old son Rainey also known as T11A. They must have just split off with a second family of transients and were going separate ways when we got there. Rainy is a HUGE male and we got some mighty close looks at both of them as they swam right next to the boat just at a leisurely pace traveling east. After about an hour we decided that we would continue on and search out more animals. It was definitely the right decision. We planned on heading to protection island but we never made it there. We got a little past Dungeness lighthouse when another group of orcas appeared heading west so west we went. This group turned out to be the T37A's and they were on the search for dinner. A harbor seal popped up next to the boat at one point and not long after the orcas came over and under the boat . one even made a swipe at a little rhinoceros auklet right next to the bow but he was a lucky bird this day and survived to tell the tale. Unfortunately we think our seal friend may have become dinner because they were chasing something and one of them did a huge syphon next to the boat and not long after we saw a big blood stain on the water. The youngest orca proudly showed off his meal bringing it over to the boat before catching up to his family who were on the move again. This time they took us into dungeness bay but eventually headed into the shallows where we couldn't follow so we left them to their hunting and made our way home passing a huge lucky group of seals that remained on the Dungeness spit and out of harm's way. What an amazing trip we had with three different orca families all to ourselves.

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