What a joy to spend this evening with the T68B’s and T68C’s! On January 2nd we received the tragic news of J2 – Granny’s death. Within an hour, we had a report of orcas in Clayoquot Sound! Later on that evening we went out to find them. We almost turned back when we saw the tidal slop in Bedwell Sound, but I am so glad we stuck with our plan! The wind bit through your clothes and my fingers were frozen to the camera shutter, but it was worth every second.
We found them at Bare Bluff heading back out the inlet. Right in the midst of the pod, sticking close to mom, was a tiny orange baby! Later confirmed to be T68B1’s calf, this newbie was deemed T68B1B. The circle was complete and with Granny’s passing, new life emerged from the sea.
We stuck with the pod until they got to Welcome Island. The sun was down and there was little light to follow them with. Night was here, and it was time for us to return home. As always, we reported our encounter to Strawberry Island Marine Research, who shared the new calf photos to Jared Towers.
-Marcie
This story was adapted from a blog post, read the original here
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