There had been no reports of orcas as "Natsilane" of San Juan Island Whale & Wildlife Tours left the docks but while we were at Salmon Bank off the West side of San Juan Island looking for minke whales, I spotted blows and dorsal fins in the distance!! It turned out to be the same Transient orcas that were in the area the day before, chowing down on a minke whale that they had killed. They were two unrelated matrilines called the T034's, and T037's. While we were with them, the orcas were mostly in travel mode, with the young ones goofing off a lot.
Matriarch of the T034 matriline, T034, born around 1970.
Matriarch T037's second daughter, T037B, born in 1998.
Matriarch of the T037 matriline, T037, born in 1979.
 T037A3, born in 2013. . . |  . . .follows its mother, T037A, born in 1994. |
T037A2, born in 2009, and its cousin T037B1 play together off the South end of San Juan Island.
The two families continued North in Haro Strait and took down a harbor porpoise in the evening. During the night, these two matrilines left the area, while the another Transient orca matriline called the T030's entered, as well as a different species of killer whale, the Southern Residents!
