CONTACT
San Juan Orcas
  • HOME
  • ORCA ENCOUNTERS BLOG
  • IDENTIFICATION HELP
  • HELP THE ORCAS
  • LINKS

Superpod From 7/26/14 To 7/29/14

7/29/2014

1 Comment

 
A few hours before sunset on the 26th, reports came in of many orcas headed for San Juan Island, so myself and some researchers headed out on their boat to see who was around. We identified the K12's first, then the three independents (Opus K16, Sonata K35, and Cappuccino K21), the K13's, and lastly the K14's, before heading back to the dock at sunset. We found out later that K pod was just leading the way, and that they were followed by L pod and finally J pod. By nightfall a superpod had formed on the West side of San Juan.
Picture
Cappuccino, born in 1986.
Picture
Sekiu K22, born in 1987. She is part of the K12 matriline.
Picture
Scoter K25, born in 1991. He is part of the K13 matriline.
The next morning, I woke up to Group B of J pod, the L4's and the L43's (minus Lulu L53, who I have not seen this entire summer) outside my window, so I headed to some cliffs near my house for a close encounter of the orca kind from shore. The orcas were spread out, intent on foraging and socializing, but were slowly headed North. Two young males called Finn L116 (born in 2010) and Moby J44 (born in 2009) were being very tactile with each other, and Finn even showed off his sea snake at one point. Nearby was Moby's mother, Princess Angeline J17, who was born in 1977. Next came Racer L72, her son Fluke L105, Polaris J28, her daughter Star J46, and Rhapsody J32, followed by Nigel L95, Oreo J22, and her two sons; Doublestuf J34 and Cookie J38.
Picture
Moby rolls onto his back while Finn surfaces after showing off his sea snake.
Picture
Finn tail slaps.
Picture
Star, born in 2009, surfaces quickly while trying to catch up to her mom.
That evening, myself and some researchers headed out on their boat again to see who all was around. We were in for a few big surprises! We found Racer and Fluke alone near Battleship Island at the North end of San Juan Island. They had a dead harbor porpoise calf with them and were slowly carrying/pushing the body around. They had probably played the calf to death, which Racer has been documented doing before, as well as other Southern Resident orcas.

When we first got on scene, I could see the two orcas logging at the surface together, and soon noticed that they were supporting the dead harbor porpoise calf between them. They swam around in slow tight circles carrying the body in this manner for a few minutes before they dropped the body and dove deep to retrieve it.
Once they resurfaced, they gently pushed the body around for a few more moments. Then, Fluke took the calf and slowly swam along the surface with it balanced on his rostrum, while Racer headed off to forage. Fluke seemed to drop it a few more times as he carried it and had to do deep dives every time to recover it.
Picture
Racer pushes the harbor porpoise in front of her.
Picture
Racer and Fluke support the calf between them.
Picture
Flukes supports the body on his rostrum.
We decided to leave Racer and Fluke and move on. Towards sunset, and with some help from a very kind family on their boat, we located more orcas at North Pender Island in Canada. To my surprise, they were the "exotics" or the L54's. They had finally made it all the way into area for the first time this season. The L54 matriline is made up of six individuals: Ino L54, her three offspring Indigo L110, Coho L108, and Keta L117, as well as two unrelated adult males named Wave Walker L88 and Nyssa L84, who are the last members of their own two matrilines and have found a mother figure in Ino. 

We encountered Ino, Coho, Keta and Nyssa as they foraged along the shoreline. Wave Walker had been sighted earlier in the day traveling, socializing and catching up with members from all three pods.
We almost got a gender shot from Keta when it breached twice, but both times the belly was aimed away from the camera.
Picture
Coho, born in 2006.
Picture
Nyssa, born in 1990.
Picture
Ino, born in 1977.
Picture
Keta breaches, but the gender is still unknown.
By the 29th, J,K , and L pod (minus the L12's) were all still in the area, foraging, resting, and socializing around San Juan Island. I spent the morning watching the K12's and L4's from shore near my house and in the afternoon headed out the Odyssey of San Juan Excursions. We met up with Group A of J pod (including Onyx L87) and the K14's as they headed North to the Fraser River at Stuart Island. Lea K14 spy hopped twice as the orcas traveled along the shoreline. The matriarch, Granny J2 was a few miles in front of everybody, leading the way.
Picture
Nugget L55, born in 1977. Sekiu K22's tail fluke pokes out of the water in the background.
Picture
Lobo K26 in front of the Turn Point light house on Stuart Island. He was born in 1993.
It's so great to have all of these orcas back in the area. Welcome home L54's!

Please don't use my photos without permission, just ask :)
1 Comment
D.C. link
7/30/2014 02:28:21 am

Excellent observation/documentation of these remarkable whales. It's reassuring that you have seen so many this summer.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Melisa Pinnow grew up on San Juan Island in Washington State. She attended The Evergreen State College from 2013 to 2017, receiving a Bachelor of Science in marine biology and ornithology. She has been a certified marine naturalist at San Juan Excursions since 2010. It is her hope that sharing her orca encounters will inspire others to love and protect these magnificent creatures for generations to come.

    Picture

    Archives

    October 2018
    July 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    October 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    April 2017
    January 2017
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    March 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    March 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013

Proudly powered by Weebly