Porpoise
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The Naming of Things: Porpoises
It’s long been a running joke in our lives, on our site, and in our podcast, that the creators of Whale Tales do not think porpoises are the most… “exciting” of cetaceans. We absolutely still love them but we feel like our love comes from a true recognition of exactly what porpoises do, and don’t,…
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A Successful Northern Resident Killer Whale Watching Trip! – 28/7/21
I was on a kayak trip based out of Telegraph Cove, and we were camping right by the entrance to Blackney Pass. It was the last night, and two of us (me and one other person) were getting kind of anxious because it was Northern Resident killer whale season, but we hadn’t seen any. We…
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A Surprise Encounter with Orcas – 2/21
In February, I was on a walk with my mum and my dogs. We always stopped at the top of a certain hill because it gave us a great view of the ocean. I was more than half-expecting to see absolutely nothing, when I saw a disturbance in the water, and a telltale fin. One…
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The Naming of Things: Dall’s Porpoise
The Dall’s Porpoise (Phocoenoides dalli) is the most active of the porpoise species, though this isn’t really saying much. It can often be found bowriding or “rooster-tailing” near boats and they frequently mistake for baby killer whales. While sighting members of this species is often exciting, the origins of their scientific name are rather mundane. The…
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Feeding Porpoises – 5/2/21
We headed out on a sunny February afternoon with Modern Sailing School. In our first leg between Angel Island and Alcatraz, we spotted some seabirds and some California sea lions resting on the shipping lane buoys. As we headed behind Angel Island towards Raccoon Strait, there were plenty of porpoises feeding in the calm waters.…