07/02/17, Lauren Fritz, M/V Sea Lion, San Juan Safaris, 1:30 and 5:30 pm Tours
What a magical day of Bigg's Killer Whales! We encountered several different family pods on the east side of Orcas Island today, over in Rosario Strait. We enjoyed some breathtaking views of the T36's and a number of other Transients. My favorite part? Seeing the massive males rise up above the surface with their huge wavering dorsal fins. It's absolutely humbling.
The whales were busy hunting and traveling on our afternoon and evening trips. It is so fascinating to consider how different their culture is from the Southern Resident killer whales. They truly are two very different ecotypes of killer whale. They have an entirely different diet. Different languages. Different hunting techniques and travel patterns. Transients usually show us unpredictable and cryptic behavior at the surface. It's what makes whale watching in the Salish Sea so fascinating, however - this chance to see two different types of orca.
Photos of today's whale encounters can be enjoyed below - if you were lucky enough to come out on the water today, these are some of my favorite shots of the animals we got to see!
We have Michael Bigg's to thank for our understanding of Resident vs. Transient characterstics. He was the pioneering researcher behind photo ID in the 1970's and 1980's in the eastern North Pacific. Because of him, we also began to understand that these killer whales don't exist in as high of numbers as we previously thought - which eventually led to an end to legal capture of these animals (thank goodness!).
But from the time of Bigg's research, though, we're seeing some changes in Transient behaviors. They don't appear to be so "transient" anymore. They are sighted fairly frequently, much more so than we saw in the past, and appear to be hunting, traveling, and and socializing in larger groups. They appear to be more vocal with each other than was previously observed, particularly after they've made a kill. Perhaps this is due to the changes in location and density of their prey - we do have an absurd amount of harbor seals out here in the Salish Sea!
There's so much to learn about these animals. Check out more facts here, and spread the word - we need to help our populations of Salish Sea killer whales. They need us!
Lauren Fritz, Naturalist, San Juan Safaris
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