J31-Tsuchi and New Calf

J31-Tsuchi and New Calf

J Pod arrived this morning and allowed us an opportunity to see J31-Tsuchi and New Calf she brought to us in May. This little one is about 3 months old and has the ID of J56. This is the 8th day this year that we have had any resident killer whales around.

Viewing SRKW’s in Canada Forbidden

Yesterday they were inbound in Canadian waters but Canada is not permitting anyone to view the Southern Resident Killer Whales. This makes zero sense to me. If we see they are there and have to leave. Meaning, noone is on scene to slow down speeding boats headed for the Orca. We cannot clue researchers in on who is present and who is missing. Most importantly we are not there to stop vessels from harassing the whales, driving over the top of them to get a close up experience.

Today in US Waters

Today, they were in US waters and on the west side of San Juan Island. Something that used to be the case most of the year. Now the Southern Resident Killer Whales are at best reluctanct visitors a few times a year and are no longer residents. It was nice though to see J31-Tsuchi and New Calf among the Rezzies.

Whales in the Fog

The first tour we had to make our way slowly through some rough tidal chop. As we neared the whales fog had set in. It was dificult to keep track of the orca for a while until it started to burn off and allow the viewing to take place.

New Calf

Once home on the computer I now see that I have a nice shot of J31 Tsuchi and her brand new calf J56. This little one is as yet unnamed at about 3 months of age and will be named likely next spring.

On the second tour the fog was completely gone and we stayed a 1/4 of a mile off of San Juan Island and viewed them as they were foraging for salmon.