[7/13/17- M/V Kestrel- 10:00 AM]
Nothing like an orca calf to start your day off right! Today we left Friday Harbor for our morning whale watching tour and headed just North of Orcas Island to see a few transient orca families in action.
When we arrived on scene the orcas were fragmented between the two different groups, but they quickly grouped back up together and started traveling East quickly. We saw T51, the 36-year-old lone male who has been seen traveling with the T37’s for the past week. We also saw T37, T37B and T37B1. It was great to see three generations of a transient family hanging out in one area. We also saw the T34’s, which include T34B, who is a two-month old calf. There are not many things cuter then a baby orca whale!
The whale began their fast travel but before that they got surface active and let us see some tail slaps and even a few breaches! Our guests were thrilled to see the huge whale life its body completely out of the water. We continued watching as T34 and T34B as well as T37 traveled in our viewing while the rest of the whale continued traveling further inshore.
T34B stayed in ‘calf position’ throughout the entire travel time. Calf position is identified when the young whale surfaces right next to mom near the lower portion of her body, usually breaking the surface of the water a few seconds after the adult female. There are a few reasons why calves automatically go to this position; 1. The young whale is being carried by mom’s slip stream, basically being pulled along. 2. The lower abdomen is the area where the calf will be nursing, making this a very safe place for the little one to be.
On our way back towards the dock we stopped to see some harbor seals, including some cute little pups! We also were lucky enough to have a bald eagle land right in the area where the harbor seals were hauled out. It was a well-rounded trip to say the least!
Naturalist, Rachel
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