The trip was booked in 2019 to be taken in 2020. But our ol’ friend Covid reared its head and everything was cancelled. We finally got around to replanning our Killer Whale trip for this year, only a three year delay.
Back in February, during the planning process we called the whale tour company we had originally booked (and paid) back in 2020. We told them we were three years late on our plans. They asked if we happened to have our reservation number from three years before, we researched and found the old reservation number. They said come on up, you’re all paid. And they honored our trip from three years ago. Nice deal, great company. (Island Adventures – Anacortes)
We made our base in Anacortes, WA then made our way to the docks for our whale trip. The Killer Whale watch trip left a lot to be desired as the whales had something else in mind and had taken the day off for the most part. The only whale active area we visited was at Orcas Island at the Lime Kiln Lighthouse point where we did see five or six but they were just coming to the surface, showing their dorsal fin, taking a breath then diving again. Saw several signature dorsal fins and a couple of the black and white bodies, then it was done. So we said oh well. Now we guess we’ve seen our Killer Whales.
But during the trip the tour guide told us about the Killer Whale. First, they aren’t even a whale at all, they are dolphins. It was named Killer Whale in error many years ago probably because of its size. Once it was realized they were not whales but dolphins scientists tried to correct the name but the name Killer Whale stayed with them. Guess Killer Dolphin doesn’t strike too much fear in anyone.
Their gestation period is eighteen months and the new born are 5-8 feet long and weigh 6-800 pounds. They are very, very intelligent and live in matriarchal family groups called pods. There are two types of Killer Whales, the fish eaters and the meat eaters. Fish eaters eat only fish. Meat eaters eat seals, sharks, deer or anything that happens to get in their way when they are feeding. Pods will sometimes adopt lone whales but fish eating pods will only adopt another fish eater and meat eating pods will only adopt other meat eaters.
Orcas found out at a point in time if they killed a great white shark, which they love to do and consumed its stomach it would make them very sick. This is where some of the intelligence comes. Many people have witnessed Killer Whales going after great white sharks, they hit or butt the great white in such a way that they turn the shark upside down, this seems to confuse the shark. While the shark is wondering how it got upside down and what it should do a Killer Whale will hit it, take a bite out and remove the liver only. The rest they leave to nature. Sounds like a pretty planned, precise bite to me.
A female is the head of a pod. When she produces a male offspring the male offspring stays with her for life. He leaves to breed but then back to mama he goes. Males live to be 60-70 years old and females 70-80 years. One very interesting fact was that when a female dies and has male offspring in the pod the male offspring will normally die within a year or two. That’s really a mama’s boy. This seems to be a once generation thing only.
The Orca have a very a large vocabulary and as research improves scientists are learning more and more about their vocabulary and are beginning to understand parts of it. They communicate often but mostly when they are hunting. Scientists now think each Orca has a name and other members of the pod call the individual by name. Hey Bob, speed ahead and make that seal swim to the left, Steve, you come at the seal from the front and confuse it, Phyllis, you come in from the bottom and finish it off for us. Then they all share in the spoils, but not evenly.
Animals continue to amaze.
Two days after our whale watching trip we took the ferry from Anacortes to Orcas Island. One of the places we visited on the island that day was Lime Kiln Lighthouse, where we had seen a few whales on our whale watching trip. The lighthouse is also the Whale Museum. While there they were shoeing a film recorded August 17, 2023, my birthday, of several local resident Killer Whale pods coming together at the lighthouse point and having a party. They were breaching, rolling, slapping the water with their fins and tails, racing, butting each other and just having a great time celebrating my birthday. The ranger at the lighthouse said they had never seen them do this before. They were not feeding, not aggressive, just having a blast with their old friends celebrating my birthday. It would have been a fantastic site to see.
The film is now on YouTube, to see it search for 8-17-2023 Southern Residents Pass The Lime Kiln Lighthouse. The day is a little overcast, has some smoke haze and the horizon is about the same color as the water so the photography clarity is not as good as it would have been on a clear day. The film is fairly long and takes a while for the real action to get going. At the end of the video you will see people in kayaks hugging the shore. Don’t you know they got the show of a lifetime but were probably scared out of their wits too.
All in all, worth it since we now know why they were not present in numbers during our whale watching trip, they were still resting from all the energy and antics they used from celebrating my birthday. That’s my story!
Later.
-Tom