We left the harbor around 1pm with a report of J Pod foraging off the west side of San Juan Island.
We had barely arrived on-scene when 24-year-old L87 “Onyx” surfaced out-of-nowhere right off the bow of the boat. He was close enough to us that a light wind carried the mist from his respiration our way.
As usual, L87 “Onyx” was on his own, so as soon as he passed us we made our way over to find another group, which happened to be a mix of the J14s and J16s. It was nice to see 15-year-old J37 “Hy’Shqa” swim by with her young son, 4-year-old J49 “T’ilem I’nges.” Both were not too far from J2 “Granny,” who was actively foraging on her own.
It wasn’t long before these two matrilines continued north out-of-sight, so we motored off southward toward Landbank and False Bay and happened upon 31-year-old J22 “Oreo” and her son, 18-year-old J34 “Doublestuf,” not too far from one another.
There was a lot of surface activity as J34 foraged, close to the boat, passing under us once or twice. He managed to find a salmon and proceeded to find his younger brother, J38 “Cookie,” further offshore.
We ended the encounter with the J17 matriline around Lime Kiln, watching them travel hastily north after the J14s and J16s.
Another great day with orcas!
-Brendon
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