Who Names the Southern Resident Orcas?

In the Puget Sound area, we have three pods of orcas known as the Southern Residents. I am often asked how our orcas got their names.  

Each orca has both a scientific name and a regular name.  Their scientific name is given to them by the Center for Whale Research. The letter designates to which pod they belong: J, K, or L. The number following the letter is the order in which they were named. J1 was the first member of J pod to be named, J2 the second, and so on. Our newest calf in J pod is J45.

Their regular name is given to them by The Whale Museum. Calves are named after they have survived their first year.  Members of the museum send in their choices for names, a list of favorites is compiled, and a vote is held. All members of the museum are eligible to vote.  One of the cutest sets of  names belongs to J22 who was named Oreo, and her offspring who are J34 DoubleStuf and J38 Cookie. J1 who is probably the most famous is Ruffles because of his tall, wavy dorsal fin. And J2 is the oldest at present. She is Granny who is approximately 98 years old.

A complete set of our orcas scientific names and their regular names can be found on The Whale Museum’s website.

An Exciting Orca Day to Remember!

I went out yesterday on a whale watch boat, and it was a most memorable trip! We started off the day seeing a beautiful mama black tail deer on the shore with her two little ones. I think we all knew that it was the start of a special day!

As we got out into the Strait of Juan de Fuca, we started seeing a number of orcas. There was a 

lot of activity going on from spy hopping to breaching, tail lobs, and cartwheels.  But what made the day was being able to watch two orcas mating. It was like watching a water ballet amongst two of the most magnificent creatures on the planet.  I managed to get a few photos of the event and now we just have to wait 17 months to see if we have a new little one :)

I added many of the photos to my website, Whales And Sails, Etc. And again, I will be giving the proceeds of the sale of these photos to the Soundwatch program at The Whale Museum. There are two galleries for June 21st: the first contains the photos of the orcas and minke whales, and the second contains the mating photos.

ORCA Awareness Month

On February 5, 2009, Governor Christine Gregoire of Washington once again declared June to be Orca Awareness month.

In the proclamation, the Governor proclaims that the orcas are still on the endangered list (they were added in November, 2005). She also proclaims that various organizations will hold events during the month to make the public more aware of the conditions surrounding the orcas and what they can do to help.

We need to appreciate these wonderful beings that we are so fortunate to have in our midst. To be able to go to Lime Kiln Park and watch them from the shore is an experience that should be shared by all for years to come. I had that experience for the first time over Memorial Day weekend. Prior to that, I had only seen them from whale watch boats. It is a totally different experience to see them from the shore. 

We certainly do need to appreciate their presence in our waters and do whatever we can do to speed up the efforts to recover the population.

Certified Marine Naturalist

I completed all the requirements for the course and finished my practicum this past Tuesday. I am now a Certified Marine Naturalist. I'm not quite sure what I want to do with this, but I know my life is going in this direction. At this point, I'm volunteering at the Whale Museum and taking note of the questions people ask. I want to do a lot more research into different areas of marine life, and possibly next year get a part time job on a whale watch boat. I don't quite feel ready for that this year, and most of the boats do their hiring in the spring for the coming summer.  

I've also always had a desire to write a book, so perhaps I will pursue that venture.  Since I'm retired, I have the time. I would like to spend my time this summer going out and photographing as much as possible so that I could use my photos in my book.

I'd also like to go into schools to talk to the children about the marine mammals of Puget Sound, so that will be something else I'll be looking into for the coming year.

At any rate, I am very happy with my accomplishments :)

The Etc. Part of Whales And Sails, Etc.

My two favorite passions when it comes to photography are whales and boats, hence the name Whales and Sails. But I also like to capture beautiful landscapes, animals, birds, flowers, etc. This is where the Etc. part comes in.

I recently entered two local photo contests. The first was sponsored by the Whatcom Educational Credit Union (WECU), with the winning photos being featured in their 2010 calendar. I entered a photo called "A Day on the Farm", which is a landscape of Mt. Baker in the background and a farmer in a tractor in the foreground. It won the contest and will be featured for the month of June!

I also entered it into the Essence of Bellingham Photo Contest where it received Honorable Mention.  And one of the others I entered "Winter Sunset" (pictured above) won Best of Subject in the Sunrise Sunset category.  The photos will be on display at City Hall starting the 26th of June, then at one of the Downtown Art Walks, and they will also be featured on Bellingham's TV channel 10.

You can see these two photos on my website Whales and Sails, Etc.  Click on Photo Contest Winners!  You can also order copies of the prints on the website.  Enjoy the beauty of the earth!

The Whale Museum, Friday Harbor, WA

To complete our marine naturalist training, and to be certified, we are required to do a practicum consisting of ten hours at The Whale Museum.  I completed four hours last Friday, and another four yesterday.

I have to say that it has thus far been a very rewarding experience! The students have been asking some very good questions, and I was happy to answer all of them. I also had a number of questions from adult visitors, both from the US and aboard.  A number of them were quite interested in the transients, and I explained the differences between them and our southern resident orcas.

Of course, while answering questions, one always realizes how much one still needs to learn. I've ordered a few more books and am using the time on the ferry to read and further my knowledge. I also have a personal belief that when I don't know the answer to a question, I do my best to find out, so that if another person asks that question, I will hopefully have the answer.  This has lead to a number of hours of googling when I get home :-)  I don't mind, as I remember one of my favorite teachers saying that we should learn one new thing each day. The questions at the museum are certainly leading me to do just that.

I'll be at the museum again next Tuesday to finish my ten hours, but I'll continue to go and help. I really enjoy what I'm doing now and want to continue.  For more information on The Whale Museum and how you can help, click here.

The proceeds of the sale of my photographs taken over Memorial Day weekend will go directly to the Soundwatch program at The Whale Museum.  To see the photographs and purchase copies, click here.

Memorial Day Weekend - Sunday - Graduation and More Orcas!

We started our day with a boat trip hoping to see the orcas, but they had gone up north. We did get to see a few minke whales, some harbor seals, quite a few birds, and some lovely scenery. We had a talk by Kari from the Soundwatch program*, and then we had our graduation on the boat. We had a super delicious cake made by Jenny, the director of the Whale Museum, and we all got certificates which declared us to be "Marine Naturalists".  We have to complete a 10 hour practicum and then we will be certified. 

When we got back a lot of us went out to lunch to celebrate. As we were eating, our instuctor, Cindy, came into the restaurant to tell us that the orcas were at the lighthouse. We quickly finished eating, paid the bill, and headed for the lighthouse!

When we got there the orcas were quite playful and putting on a wonderful show.  One of my favorite photos is one I titled "Mother and Child" as it's J14 (Samish) with new little J45. 

While we were all enjoying the orcas, there was a boater who came VERY close to hitting one of them.  Thankfully, a woman on a whale watch boat got a photo of the boat and its close proximity to the orca, and I got a shot of the boat showing the boat's ID number. We all filled out incident reports with NOAA, and at last word, they were looking into this incident. I was contacted for a copy of my photo which I gladly provided. I hope they throw the book at that boater.

For more photos from this wonderful weekend, please go to my website, Whales And Sails, Etc.

Memorial Day Weekend - Saturday - More Orcas!

I had class starting at 10:00am and going till around 4:00pm.  As soon as class was over, a number of us headed to the park to see if the orcas were there.

The orcas arrived just before 5:00pm coming from the south and heading north.  After they had all gone past, just about everyone left for the day.  A few of us diehards remained to enjoy the beautiful weather and just in case anymore orcas came by.  Well, again we were not disappointed as the ones that had gone north turned around and came back!  We had J14 (Samish) with her new little one, J45, along with J30 (Riptide), and J26 (Mike).  They stayed until almost 7:00pm and we were treated to spyhopping, breaching, tail slaps, and those of us with cameras got some wonderful shots!  Little J45 looked like his mom had told him to go practice his breaching as he was up and down over 20 times!  He was also having fun doing tail slaps. We were definitely glad we stayed :)

Memorial Day Weekend - Friday - Orcas, Orcas!

On April 25th, I started the Marine Naturalist course at the Whale Museum in Friday Harbor on San Juan Island. The course was 5 weeks long, with the last two sessions being held on Memorial Day weekend. I chose to spend the entire long weekend on the island and was very glad I did!

I arrived on Friday, and went straight from the ferry to Lime Kiln State Park, also known as Whale Watch Park.  The orcas had not yet arrived so I enjoyed the picnic lunch I had packed, read my book, and waited. They did not disappoint!

We had heard that J Pod was spread out, and that proved to be true. At around 2:00pm Ruffles (pictured above) showed up, followed close behind by Granny. 

We then waited for about an hour and the rest of the group arrived. You can see more photos from May 22, along with others from the weekend at Whales And Sails, Etc.   Click on NEW Orca Photos.