Sunday, July 18th, 2010
On Friday, July 9th we had one of the greatest whale watching days. Today we had a repeat. Arriving in Boundary Pass, where the U.S. Canadian border is, we came upon J pod and some of the L’s. They were travelling fast and quickly turned south at Turn Point. It seemed as though they were on a mission. As soon as they hit Haro Strait, though, the play started. They first started with spy hops. Then there was a lot of tail slaps; another mile and the breaching started. The further south they went, the more active they became. We followed along for 8.2 miles and with each mile the Orcas seemed to explode with energy! J27 (Blackberry, male b.1991) and his little brother J39 (Mako b.2003) were some of the whales that we identified. They are an inseparable pair since their mom died last year. Blackberry has been taking good care of his little brother. We watched one juvenile breach six times in a row as it swam along with mom and family. There was a group in the distance with some very little ones; J35 (Tahlequah b. 1998) with her first calf born this year and her mother J17 (Princess Angeline b. 1977) who had her third calf last year. As with all Orca families, they are a tight knit group. The family bonding with Orcas is life long. J1 (Ruffles est. b. 1951) along with his mom J2 (Granny est. b. 1911) were also there with her granddaughter J14 (Samish b. 1974) and her four offspring. Her youngest calf is just a yearling. The J 16 group was also identified; J16 is ‘Slick’ with calves ranging in age from nineteen to three years of age. What a day for seeing babies! At one point, we looked behind us, and there were another group of whales coming! It just didn’t seem to end and no one wanted it to! Another fantastic day! Also spotted were the usual: harbor seals and harbor porpoise, numerous birds and a great view of a bald eagle.
