TRANSIENT Orcas in Haro Strait!
...The Resident Orcas, who are strictly fish eaters, primarily salmon hunting specialists, were reported far to the north somewhere in the vicinity of the Frasier River mouth near Vancouver, BC.
With that information known, some other boats found a group of Transient Orcas in our neighborhood, just off the northwest side of San Juan Island this afternoon!! Very exciting to receive reports of Transients; these Orcas are marine mammal hunters, specializing in a diet that includes porpoise and harbor seals that are found in our waters. Transients tend to be seen more often when the Residents are not around, (or maybe it's that we're just looking for them more when we know the other pods are not around)...either way it's always exciting to observe them because we tend to encounter them less frequently!
Both types or races of Orca can be identified by their dorsal fins and saddle patches, and we know we saw the T20s.....a large male T20 with a distinctive notch near the top, along with his sister T21 and T22, who I've been told each have a calf...and we did see at least 2 younger Orcas with this group. Also reported was a sighting of T90, and T24? (upon arrival to the scene I thought I saw another large male) or T124? (heard this from other boat captains...). Waiting to hear confirmation on identities of these Orcas. Having not seen Transients all summer, I was really happy to get to see this group. They were traveling slowly at a steady pace, taking longer dives than the Resident Orcas typically do, a few splashes and sudden changes in direction...but overall no indication of hunting or feeding. Very tough to predict where they would resurface during these long dives though.
The T20s were also encountered earlier this week, on Tuesday, in San Juan Channel as well as the previous Monday off Blaine, WA. Interesting to see this one group so frequently in the last week or so and I'm anxious to hear more on this group. As we left, the Transients they were heading north off Mandarte Island in Haro Strait.
-Jaclyn Van Bourgondien, naturalist
With that information known, some other boats found a group of Transient Orcas in our neighborhood, just off the northwest side of San Juan Island this afternoon!! Very exciting to receive reports of Transients; these Orcas are marine mammal hunters, specializing in a diet that includes porpoise and harbor seals that are found in our waters. Transients tend to be seen more often when the Residents are not around, (or maybe it's that we're just looking for them more when we know the other pods are not around)...either way it's always exciting to observe them because we tend to encounter them less frequently!
Both types or races of Orca can be identified by their dorsal fins and saddle patches, and we know we saw the T20s.....a large male T20 with a distinctive notch near the top, along with his sister T21 and T22, who I've been told each have a calf...and we did see at least 2 younger Orcas with this group. Also reported was a sighting of T90, and T24? (upon arrival to the scene I thought I saw another large male) or T124? (heard this from other boat captains...). Waiting to hear confirmation on identities of these Orcas. Having not seen Transients all summer, I was really happy to get to see this group. They were traveling slowly at a steady pace, taking longer dives than the Resident Orcas typically do, a few splashes and sudden changes in direction...but overall no indication of hunting or feeding. Very tough to predict where they would resurface during these long dives though.
The T20s were also encountered earlier this week, on Tuesday, in San Juan Channel as well as the previous Monday off Blaine, WA. Interesting to see this one group so frequently in the last week or so and I'm anxious to hear more on this group. As we left, the Transients they were heading north off Mandarte Island in Haro Strait.
-Jaclyn Van Bourgondien, naturalist
posted by San Juan Safaris Whale Watching at
5:21 PM
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