An Orca Named Lolita

Where Lolita Belongs - with her family

I have just finished two articles on Lolita, posted on my Examiner.com page (see link below).

On August 8, 1970, she was taken from her home in Puget Sound and sold to the Miami Seaquarium. She is being kept in a tank that is much too small for a creature of her size, and is, by government standards, illegal. So WHY isn't someone doing something about this?

It is time to get answers to why something has not been done about this by now.

It is time for her to retire. She was not put on this earth to be kept captive or made to perform every day.

She is a creation of our earth and her home is Puget Sound.

Her family is here waiting for her return.

It is time for her to come home.

Please read her articles on Examiner.com. I'll be writing soon about how you can help. Go read An Orca Named Lolita

Thanks,

Carole

Life as a writer!

Wow, the life of a writer is a busy one!  I now have 13 articles up on my page. I wrote quite a few on the orcas: how to photograph them, how they are named, how to identify them, what to look for when whale watching. I am now branching out and starting to write about the other marine mammals. 

Today's piece was on the Pacific harbor seal. I have to admit that I am having a lot of fun with this, although it is rather time consuming. But I have received some lovely emails in response to what I have written, so that makes it all worth it. I even heard from someone in Capetown, South Africa!  I had no idea people that far away would be reading articles about Puget Sound. Amazing!!

Visit my page here:  Puget Sound Marine Life Examiner

Photo ©2008 Carole May - May not be used without permission. 

From Photographer to Writer

A classmate from my Marine Naturalist course is also a writer on Examiner.com. She emailed me about three weeks ago and asked if I'd ever thought about doing something like that. She told me all about it and I was psyched! She said that with my love and passion for the orcas and my photography, I'd be perfect to write on the marine mammals of Puget Sound. I filled out the application and was accepted!  I now have my own page as the Marine Mammal Examiner of Puget Sound. I've written a few articles and will be writing more on events, ways of whale watching, and general information about the orcas and other marine life.

You can visit my page here:  Puget Sound Marine Life

Photo ©2009 Carole May - May not be used without permission. 

Happy Reading!

Just Missed Them!

I went to San Juan Island yesterday and just missed the orcas by 40 minutes. Frustrating to say the least!  The ferry arrived in Friday Harbor at 10:00am, but the earliest shuttle to Lime Kiln Park was 10:40, which arrived at 11:00am. When I got there, I was told that the orcas were around from 10-10:20am, and then headed north. I stayed at the park hoping they'd turn around, but no such luck.

I headed back to Friday Harbor, grabbed a bite to eat, then went to The Whale Museum for a wonderful talk on elephant seals by Dr. Joe Gaydos.  Joe is a Wildlife Veterinarian and Regional Director of the SeaDoc Society. I learned many interesting things about the elephant seals including their ability to dive to depths of a mile!  They are also one of the few species who have come back from extinction. I came away with a new appreciation for these wonderful beings!

The next lecture is July 15th with Mike Ford who is going to talk about fatherhood in the Southern Resident Orca community. Being a matrilineal society, the fathers of the youngsters are rarely spoken about since it's hard to determine who the father is. I'm sure Mike's research will be enlightening on this topic!

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.