On Thursday afternoon the folks on the Sea Lion got some great views of some J Pod orcas on the west side of San Juan Island! J Pod is one of the 3 pods that make up the Southern Resident Killer Whale Population. This group was wonderful to watch as they travelled south past Lime Kiln State Park. They appeared to be in a celebratory mood as they did some tail slaps, cartwheels (when they lift their tail out of the water and rotate it to the side before slapping it down), and even some breaches! Two whales breached parallel to each other and at the same time for a double breach! Woah, I didn't think it could be any better except for the reason for our quick identification of some of these orcas is that J pod has some new members! Slick (J-16) had a calf in December 2014 (J-50) and Alki (J-36) had her calf in March 2015 (J-52). These two little calves are very adorable and will stick very close to their mothers to be safe and learn all they need to know about hunting for awhile now and they won't receive nicknames until later in the summer. After we followed the orcas further south we said good bye and headed to Goose Island to view our local Harbor Seals. These seals are year round residents and are in the middle of pupping season so the low, rocky islets throughout the San Juans have seal pups hauled out trying to stay warm. Happy Summer everyone!
Naturalist Erick
M/V Sea Lion, San Juan Safaris