T Party

This summer has been amazing for transient orca encounters. We've gone over two weeks seeing orcas EVERY day... that's pretty incredible for this time of the year.

Today we met up with the T18s as they headed east in Boundary Pass near Saturna Island in Canada. There are four animals in this family group: T18, T19, and T19's two offspring T19B and T19C. T19B is a big boy for his age, thirteen, and we got some really great looks at him as he and his family made close passes to the shoreline. Most of their behavior appeared to be simply traveling because there were multiple seals in the area and they even buzzed past Boiling Reef on their was into the Strait of Georgia without any known or obvious kills.

We had a great time paralleling Saturna Island with them and then we stopped to check our Harbor Seals and Bald Eagles before heading back to Friday Harbor in time for the 5:00 Ferry.

***Lately we have been seeing the Transients. There are three commonly identified distinctive groups of orca cultures: Resident, Transient , and Off-shore. The main factors which set each species apart are - social behavior, physical appearance, preferred food, and vocal dialects. We most commonly see Southern Resident Orcas and Transient Orcas in the San Juan Islands, however some Offshore sightings have occured in the past but are incredibly rare.***

Megan Young, Naturalist