J-Pod off Saturna Island
A cloudy morning turned into sunshine and Orca Whales in the Salish Sea! Stay tuned for a report on today's tour from Naturalist Bart Rulon! We chose a path going through the inner San Juan Islands today because we had reports of J-pod swimming north off of Stuart Island. We needed to make some time so we didn't make any stops as we headed north. We did however see a few bald eagles, pigeon guillemots, turkey vultures, and pelagic cormorants along the way. When we finally found J-pod they were swimming along the south end of Saturna Island. One of the first orcas we saw breached for us! J-pod was spread out but in small groups looking for fish. Granny, J2, and Spieden, J8, two of the oldest members of J-pod, were swimming side by side for several minutes. We had many elementary school children on the boat today who had adopted Ruffles, J1, through the adopt an orca program at the Whale Museum. So we were sure to check out Ruffles as he swam alone in front of all the other orcas. He drew lots of cheers from the kids every time he surfaced. Later we repositioned to watch several orcas pass by. One breached for us, then another swam at high speed, probably chasing a salmon, with her dorsal fin slicing quickly through the water's surface. A few minutes later we watched as Oreo, J22, Double Stuff, J34, Cookie, J38, Polaris, J28, and others swam side by side. We said goodbye to the whales as they reached the eastern end of Saturna Island. On the way back home we made a stop at Peapod Rocks to watch many harbor seals hauled out on the rocks there. It was a great day! Naturalist - Bart Rulon
posted by Island Adventures Whale Report @ 5:26 PM
0 Comments
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home