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[7/18/17 1:30 SL]
Finally! After weeks of radio silence from our well-known resident orcas, L Pod has finally made a much-anticipated appearance. Historically found in the Salish Sea for the entirety of the summer, resident killer whales are now becoming a rarity in this area. Seeing them around San Juan Island during today's trip was such a treat, and hopefully means that they're finding an abundance of salmon in the waters just south of San Juan Island.
Like most Killer Whales, residents' movements are dictated by their food source. Although unlike transients, whose mammalian prey are found pretty much everywhere all the time, residents have a regular migration route to keep up with their prey.
Residents are exclusively fish-eaters, with 90% of their diet being chinook salmon alone. During the summer months, salmon run up the freshwater rivers in this area (namely the Fraser River in Vancouver), drawing all the residents in from the open Pacific Ocean. Recently, however, salmon stocks have been at an all-time low, namely due to human activity like building dams, polluting rivers, and farming salmon in the same areas that wild salmon use. These low salmon levels have led to fewer and fewer sightings of resident Killer Whales, since they just can't find food in this area reliably anymore.
We watched the majority of L pod as they foraged on the southwest side of San Juan Island, moving back and forth along the shoreline and taking breaks to socialize and play. We observed tail slaps and breaches, spy hops and pectoral slaps all before we had to head back home to Friday Harbor. We were so grateful to be able to experience a day with our familiar ressies right beside our own island!
Naturalist Sarah C.
