As the sun rose on the morning of 9/12/13, members of all three Southern Resident orca pods made their way up the West side of San Juan Island towards the Fraser River to the North. Over these last few weeks J, K and L pod have been really sticking to the Fraser, occasionally coming back down to San Juan. At the moment it looks like the orcas are feasting on the Chinook salmon that are heading for the river to spawn. The humungous amount of rain fall recently most likely helped the salmon locate their birth river since we had such dry weather and the fish can't smell the river without some rain water helping to push down sediment. I caught a ride with San Juan Island Whale & Wildlife Tours and San Juan Safaris and was able to see all of J and K pod with some L pod members mixed in there too as they headed for the Fraser.
Ti'lem I'nges J49, born on August 6th, 2012, is still looking good!
Matriarch Granny J2 is still kicking at 102 years old!
Eighty year old Spieden J8 was in the front with Granny.
Onyx L97, born in 1992, was still close behind Spieden and Granny after being adopted by them or maybe it's the other way around!
Sonata K35, born in 2002, is starting to sprout! By time he reaches his early twenties his dorsal fin alone will reach a maximum height of six feet tall, a characteristic of an adult male. Adult female dorsal fins are around two feet in height.
Fluke L105, born in 2004, lined up with Mandarte Island. His mother Racer L72 and grand aunt Lulu L53 were close by.
K pod heads for the Fraser River. Tika K33 with his mother Sekiu K22 are on the far left.
Adult male Scoter K25, born in 1991, with his nephew Comet K38, born in 2004. A barb from Scoter's satellite tag he had in his dorsal fin over the winter can still be seen on the right face of the fin, even though it should have dislodged itself by now.
Ripple K44, born on July 6th, 2011.
It's been so great seeing J, K and L pod on a regular basis recently. My days are winding down to when I leave for my freshman year at Evergreen State College in Olympia Washington, and I hope I get to see these guys one more time so I can say goodbye. Hopefully all of them will be accounted for next summer, plus a few new babies. Crossing my fingers!
