It is always a special day when we get to see members of J-pod. Some of these whales have literally grown up before our eyes. On that evening we found them socializing along the shoreline of Mayne Island, BC in Georgia Strait. The whales were all mixed up and there were playful groups everywhere you looked. Inshore of us two rambunctious youngsters were rolling around and as we got closer we were able to identify J39 “Mako” and J47 “Notch”. The two boys seemed to be goofing off just for the fun of it. One would tail slap, then the other. One would breach the other would do an inverted tail lob. At one point Notch aimed a splash in Mako’s direction and Mako did a tail slap back at Notch, sending a wave of water at the younger whale. Then they both rolled on their sides together, as if they had prepared the move all along, and did a synchronized pec slap. It’s always great to see J-pod—it’s even better to see them when they’re socializing with one another.
-Sara
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