On Wednesday, we had a wonderful afternoon trip on the M/V Sea Lion! We went in search of our southern resident killer whales and found a couple members of J pod on the west side of San Juan Island. These members were a part of what we call the cookie squad. We call them the cookie squad because of their names given by the Whale Museum here in Friday Harbor.
Each whale receives an identification number from the Center of Whale Research when they are first spotted. The numbers signify when they were spotted in the pod. After surviving a full year, the Whale Museum collects names and the community votes on the names for the whales. So today we were able to identify J-34, Doublestuf. Doublestuf was the 34th whale to be identified in J pod. Doublestuf is always seen traveling with his mother, J-22 Oreo and his sister, J-38 Cookie.
On our trip, the cookie squad spent most of their time hunting for the local Chinook salmon. They eat about 300 to 400 pounds of salmon a day! Doublestuf did end our time together with a beautiful breach!
What a great time with the cookie squad! We soon returned to Friday Harbor with smiling faces after a fun afternoon on the water!
Naturalist Amanda
M/V Sea Lion