Understanding Responsible Whale Watching - A Better Understanding
As such, it has become apparent that these 'lords of the sea' are more than capable of distinguishing the threat of capture or potential harm from that of simple observation. The future of the orca, and whales in general, can be determined by the careful examination of their behavior. Whale researchers and scientists have long believed and now conclude that whales are, in fact, highly intelligent communicators. These magnificent mammals are able to readily distinguish between individual pod members, objects and other fish or mammals that inhabit their environment.
Every orca pod has it's own unique dialect (or language) and there are several different, yet distantly related races of killer whale in our oceans. These differing killer whales are known as 'resident', 'transient' or 'offshore' whales, capable of communicating with and distinguishing one another over a distance.
These differing races are identifiable in many ways, but mainly by unique saddle patches, dorsal fin markings, feeding patterns or other obvious unique group dynamics. Some orca species are strictly fish eaters, and others are consumers of mammals and other varieties of sea life). Killer whales are capable of swimming long distances and diving to great depths with ease. They enjoy playfully performing natural activities such as spy hopping (bobbing with their heads slightly above water), breaching, and tail or fin slapping.
The average lifespan of whales varies, and little is known about their natural mortality. One of the southern resident whales, for example, is estimated to be ninety-plus years of age, somewhat similar to that of a human being. Almost every resident whale, and a great majority of transient whales, has been photo-identified, some since birth. Resident killer whales remain with their mothers for life and have very close-knit families within their pods.
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Recent Sightings
December 21. 2011: Big news! It's been kept quiet to make sure all parties confirmed, but NOAA's NW Fisheries Science Center and the Center for Whale Research have confirmed that on December 17, 39-year old J16 (Slick) gave birth to a new baby calf in Puget Sound, probably only a few hours judging from the fresh fetal folds, before being seen and photographed. This makes J16's fifth calf since her first, J26, was born in 1991. She was the sixteenth J pod orca photographed and identified by Mike Bigg in 1972, and is among the oldest whose age is known exactly. Her matriline is known as the J7's after J16's late mother. Ths is great news for the holiday season!
December 5. 2011: The Christmas Season is here and so are the whales! There have been recent reports of orca whales (transient and resident) near Victoria!
It is not as busy this time of year, so we haven't had a trip out for a few weeks but we are here and ready to go when you are!
We have 1:00pm departures scheduled each day that are subject to weather and enough passengers interested in going out. Reservations are required. Call today for more information.
October 15. 2011: Incredible to think that it's already October... Saturday was sunny and calm. The morning boat came across Transient killer whales just South of Race Rocks and followed them West. Our afternoon encounter was quite lucky as we came across the T18s only minutes after leaving the harbour at Trial Island. We followed them to Discovery Island and then went to spend some time with Split fin, aka Bart, by Beaumont Shoal. This particular humpback seems to enjoy tail lobbing!!
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