It's been an absolute fabulous few weeks to watch our transient killer whales here in the Salish Sea. These marine mammal eaters are frequently seen hunting their favorite meal - harbor seals - along with harbor porpoises, minke whales, and dolphins around our islands. Males need to intake about 450 pounds of food a day to satisfy their appetities, while females need a bit less. These incredible hunters take down their prey in a cooperative manner and share their kills, and any calves in the group are constantly learning lessons from the adults on approaches to the best hunting methods. It's absolutely amazing how these animals pass down their knowledge and skills from generation to generation; it's vital to their survival, and is a perfect example of how socially oriented they are.
We had the opportunity today to observe a pod of transient whales (the T137's) off of East Point, a small peninsula off of Saturna Island in B.C., swimming at a significant speed with the appearance of being on the hunt. They were frequently changing directions and being especially cryptic at the surface, typical of transients on the hunt. Because they are after much larger prey than the Southern Residents, their use of echolation is much more limited and carefully calculated than what we see of the residents. Essentially, hunting styles among killer whales are widely variable depending on the type of prey that is being targeted. It's amazing how different our ecotypes of killer whales are, and how they've adapted their behaviors around what they like to eat!
We had a chance to hang out with the T137 pod for about 45 minutes, watching them cruise gracefully through the water. We even got to see a spy hop from one of the individuals! This particular behavior is cherished among whale watchers, as we are treated to a view of the entire head of the orca coming out of the water - it's a chance for them to gain a view of their surroundings. Although echolation is their main way of "seeing" underwater, they do have eyesight similar to ours, so a spyhop is the perfect opportunity to see above the surface.
We not only got to see a beautiful pod of transients on our whale watch today, but a whole host of seabirds, harbor seals, porpoises, bald eagles, and even some sika deer on Spieden Island. Another day full of energy and wildlife out on the water!