Isn't it fascinating how tied to their families orcas are? By mom's side for life...I'm sure some human moms wish this were the case for their own children. As part of a matriarchal social structure, newborn calves will stick close to Mom and nurse for their first year of life, eventually becoming weaned. But, unlike, say, a humpback whale, these calves don't go off on their own after a year or two. They're going to stay with mom for life. She's the leader of the pod, and the provider of a wealth of knowledge and life lessons for her offspring. It's for their own survival that they stick by her side.
We saw a perfect example of this on the M/V Kittiwake today. Heading north of Friday Harbor, we journeyed up to Pender Bluffs to watch the beautiful, almost synchronized swimming patterns of the J16 family. Lead by matriarch Slick, who is over 40 years old, the family was seen heading north, traveling at relatively high speeds and with a seemingly purposeful direction. Beautiful black dorsal fins sliced the smooth, pastel surface of the Salish Sea waters, adding excitement to the whale watch.
Slick has a beautiful family, with four offspring, including 25-year-old, fully grown male Mike, and his sisters Alki, Echo, and Scarlet. Little Scarlet is barely over two years old, and she was seen today frolicking alongside her mother's side. Still a relatively new addition to the Southern Resident family, Scarlet brings hope to the small population of Southern Resident Killer Whales. Hopefully we will continue to see new additions throughout the coming years, and the population count will only rise! We'd love nothing more than to see a healthy, successful population of these beautiful animals.
During this same whale watch, we also had the chance to watch Onyx, the L-pod male who has been traveling with J-Pod since around 2010. He was happily swimming with Granny, J2, further north from the J16 family. These two were apparently seen playing with a dead harbor porpoise earlier in the day - not an unusual orca pastime! Just saying, we all have to find our fun somewhere. It's always nice to see this disjointed family of killer whales hitting it off and having a good time.
What a day! I'm sure tomorrow will bring even more adventures.