Today we caught up with 3 members of L-pod, a female and her offspring, on the west side of San Juan Island (Haro Strait 48°33’56.84N, 123°10’50.29W). They were headed south right against the shore line, moving at a very quick rate.
Within a few minutes of arriving we discovered that the female was L-55 also known as “Nugget” and one of the calves was L-118! We were very excited to see L-118 return home with mama because this calf was just born last year (2011) and can now be given a proper name.
It is days like these that really allow us to appreciate our Southern Resident Killer Whales, because although endangered, and battling many threats to their food and environment, mama still returns home with her calves showing us the true strength of the species.
We left the group at approximately 3:03 PM still making their way south, to catch up with the rest of the pod.
Naturalist Tara, San Juan Safaris