Reports from the Field
Saturday, July 09, 2011
Mammal Eating Orca Whales Sighted!
Asher called in from James Island last night to tell us that he and his group had just encountered a small group of Transient (mammal eating) Orca whales!
It's been an interesting summer for whale enthusiasts throughout the San Juan Islands due to an iincrease in sightings of these hard-to-track killer whales. Unlike the popular Resident Orca pods, who travel in fairly predictable routes around the perimieter of the San Juan Islands, transient orca whales do not have any decipherable pattern to their movements. They just seem to show up suddenly and then disappear in the same ephemeral way.
Speaking of interesting whale movements, last week we had our Resident Orca pods swimming right between Burrows and Allan Island before heading down to our kayak route near Deception Pass! In all my years out here I have only seen that happen one other time. Usually they travel right by us, near the Burrows Island lighthouse, but avoid going into the narrow channels between the islands.
Summer is in full swing now and, despite the cool weather start to the season, we are enjoying some really beautiful weather...finally!
