When our reliable Residents aren't around, Naturalists and Captains alike are always hopeful Transients will be found somewhere. Our sunset departure left with mixed reports of a group of Transients that might be coming within range of our trip. The inestimable Captain Pete decided to go for it and our guests, my fellow Naturalist Alex, and our guests couldn't be more grateful.
We caught up the group of at least eight animals out in the Haro Strait. Transients are more difficult to recognize immediately because there's over 200 that can show up on any given day in the San Juans. As a result, it takes some work to figure out what group you are looking at, but it's aided by the individualized scars that their favorite foods, marine mammals, give them in pursuit. Ultimately we were less concerned about who we were looking at because of the show they put on.
Not long after passing Limekiln State Park the group diverged and started actively hunting. With a couple our thrashings and some epic breaches and cartwheels, we knew they were on top of food and before long they slowed the pace and milled, obviously eating. A couple red blobs appeared on the surface, that I took as loose floats, but what turned out to be floating lungs presumably from a harbor porpoise they had recently eaten. It was slightly gruesome to watch them float by, but it was a good teaching moment: Orca's are selective in what they like to eat and discard what they don't want.
Before leaving we also got to see an interesting and uncommon behavior. For several minutes we watched a younger animal in the group repeatedly grasp and pull down a Pigeon Guilemot (a common nearshore seabird in the Puffin family) below the surface. The bird screamed but apparently was unable to escape on wing because it made no move to do so. Last we saw it, as we headed North for a circumnavigation of San Juan Island, it appeared to have survived this cat and mouse game with Transient Killer whales.
Naturalist Brendan
M/V Sea Lion, San Juan Safaris