People Watching

Photo Below: Photo of L7 (Canuck) taken by Adam U from our boat the Sea Lion during our season's first super pod.

Yesterday was probably the most amazing encounter I've ever had with orcas! We found J-Pod on the west side of San Juan Island near the Salmon Bank Buoy. The animals appeared to be swimming lazily about in their matrilineal groups. We began the encounter watching J19 (Sachi) and her calf (Eclipse) and J11 (Blossom) with her youngest son J39 (Mako). They were staying in a small area, logging and circling about in tactile groups (seemed to be reinforcing mother/calf bonds). We enjoyed watching this group for a while and then began to move up island where we encountered the J14s (Samish and her son Riptide, J30; with her daughters Hy'shqa, J37; and Suttles, J40). An older female, J8 (Speiden) was also a part of this group. They appeared to be coming right in to our stern and since we didn't know where the other animals were, we shut down to avoid disturbing them. We thought the orcas would just pass by, as they usually do, but Samish and her family had other plans. They came right up to our bow and logged (rested at the surface) about ten feet away! Our guests were thrilled and began hooting and hollering with excitement. The orcas actually appeared to enjoy the commotion made over them and J8 poked her head out of the water multiple times to get a better look at us crazy humans. I had a hard time maintaining professional composure because the orcas shocked me just as much as our guests. J14 and her son J30 were the closest and checked us out while her daughters J37 and J40 played alongside them. They observed us for about ten minutes before diving under the boat and popping up on the other side. The excitement didn't end there, however, J14 appeared with a salmon in her mouth. She paraded along the side of our boat, fish on rostrum! I couldn't believe how amazing this rare encounter was. They actually appeared to be people watching!!!!

As we left the scene, multiple animals breached in the distance. Our guests truly got one of the greatest shows of all time... and nobody was asking these animals to do it. They were just teaching us how amazing they are. I hope this encounter taught our guests some things are worth protecting... and these guys are definitely worth protecting.

Megan Young, Naturalist