With the sun shining overhead, Captain Jim, the guests, and I motored down through San Juan Channel in pursuit of Orcas. We encountered a few members of L Pod off of Eagle Point on the west side of San Juan Island. One of the whales was L41 Mega, who was also spotted last night by the MV Sea Lion. Mega displayed foraging behavior for us, and even some porpoising! Porpoising is when the Orca comes quickly out of the water, exposing more body, to take a breath. Porpoising allows Orcas to travel at higher speeds. When Traveling fast, Orcas can go up to 30 knots is short bursts! More typically, Orcas will travel around 8 knots.
It felt great to be back on the water with our Southern Residents. I look forward to many more trips with them this summer!
Emily, Naturalist, San Juan Safaris, MV Kittiwake