J pod was reported near Hein Bank in the Strait of Juan De Fuca this afternoon when we left the Victoria Harbour on Five Star Charter's Supercat at 1400. We headed into the Strait of Juan De Fuca and travelled for about an hour to reach them spread out and westbound mid-strait.
The first matrilineal group we spotted were the J17s, Princess Angeline's family. This family includes J17's calf J44 who is one of the newest calves born into the southern resident community sometime in January (see Center For Whale Research encounter) and the calves older sister J28, polaris, who is 16 years old and J35, Tahlequah, who is 11 years old (see the Whale Museums' Orca Adoption page).
J28, Polaris, travelling with her new younger sibling J44
J35 Tahlequah
J17, Princess Angeline, 32 year old female
J28 Polaris, 16 year old female
After a nice sighting of the J17s we saw J34, Doublestuff, an 11 year old male in the J22 matriline travelling on his own. He treated us with three half-breaches in a row...very nice!
J34, Double Stuff, doing a half breach!
J34 Double Stuff travelling in the Strait of Juan De Fuca
Caspian tern with fish in its mouth
After watching J34 for a bit we spotted J1, Ruffles', fin in the distance. He is the oldest male in the community and is estimated to be born in 1951. We got a really nice look at his tall dorsal fin as he travelled through the strait with J2, Granny, who is believed to be his mother travelling close by. These two are the oldest animals in J pod with granny estimated to have been born in 1911!
J1, Ruffles, travelling west in the Strait of Juan De Fuca. He is estimated to have been born in 1951, making him approximately 58 years old!
J1, Ruffles
J1, Ruffles
J1, Ruffles, showing his distinctly ruffled fin
J1, Ruffles, with the Olympic Mountains in the background
J1, Ruffles, with the Olympic Mountains in the background
After watching J pod for about 45 minutes we left to start making our way back to the harbour. Just as we entered the harbour we had a not-so-common sighting of a brown pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis) sitting at the Ogden Point dock in the outer Victoria Harbour. What a lucky bird day because en route to the whales we also spotted a Tufted puffin (Fratercula cirrhata). This species of bird is seen fairly regularly in this area but definitely not on a daily basis!
Source: http://depts.washington.edu/natmap/photos/birds/tufted_puffin_7872np.jpg
Brown Pelican at Ogden Point
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