J and K Pod Orca Whales
8/28/2010: We started our journey today by venturing through the inner San Juan Islands. We spotted harbor seals in a few different spots along the way. Next we exited the San Juans through Cattle Pass and then we headed northwest and found orcas along the west side of San Juan Island. It was J-pod and K-pod orcas. The first few whales we spotted were J26, Mike, K22, Sekiu, and K33 Tika. They gave us some great viewing as they came up together. We also spotted a larger group closer to shore including J27, Blackberry, J34, Doublestuf, J28, Polaris, J46, and others. This group was very active and doing breaches, half breaches, and spyhops on several occasions. All the orcas we saw today were doing a lot of tail slaps and tail lobs as they swam. Some of the orcas were upside-down while they were doing their tail slaps. All the orcas seemed to be grouping in closer and closer to each other the longer we watched. We said goodbye to the whales just as they were reaching Lime Kiln Lighthouse, and one of the calves breaches just as we pulled away. On the way back toward the dock we slowed down at Castle Island and watched a harbor seal pup crawl out of the water and start nursing with mom on the rocks. We had a great day on the water! Naturalist Bart Rulon
