What an absolutely breathtaking day out on the M/V Sea Lion! We had two whale watch tours today, and a chance to hang out with several members of the J-Pod. These Southern Resident Killer Whales were happily foraging and traveling along the west side of San Juan Island today, a treat for both boat- and land-based whale watchers. The best part? We had two excited calves showing off their tail slapping abilities! This is such a fun behavior to not only see, but to hear as well. So what's up with these happy displays of flukes? What's the purpose?
We know that orcas have excellent hearing capabilities. They're using echolocation and sounds to "see" and understand their entire marine environment. So, we know that tail-slapping (and pec-slapping, or tail-lobbing, or any sort of body part slapping the surface of the water) makes a large sound that travels much faster through the water than it does in air. So tail-slapping might very well be a form of nonvocal communication for these whales. But, considering that on this particular evening we were witnessing some very young animals, they may have been just feeling particularly jovial and playful! And that's definitely a viable explanation as well, since killer whales are extremely social, cooperative animals, and sometimes they just want to play and celebrate the joy of being a marine mammal with a belly full of good salmon.
We even had a chance to catch some spyhops, as well as some views of some pretty massive, smelly Stellar Sea Lions! These big guys (and gals) have been showing up on a few little islands off the shoreline of San Juan, having just spent some time up in Alaska. They're going to spend their falls and winters down here where it's a bit warmer, and that's just fine with me. They are such fun animals to watch, and their sheer size (2,400 pounds is the average weight of an adult male) is enough to make me wonder just how scary it might be to stand right next to one! Fortunately, it's perfectly safe to watch from the deck of Sea Lion, and we were able to snap some pretty fun photos of these guys.
The pastel, fairy tale sunset? A perfect way to end the night. I can't imagine a better day out here on the Salish Sea.
