2005 5 Star Season closes

Well it's hard to believe it but it's been approximately 8 months on the water and it's time to put the boat to sleep for a while. Soon our orcas will leave the area in search of salmon perhaps offshore, north or south. In the mean time, researcher Ron Bates and myself will keep in touch with what animals are in our area and do our best to provide land based coverage so do check back here soon!

See you all next year. And we all know how fast that time will pass and then it will start all over again, I CAN'T WAIT!. It's been an amazing experience. There is NOTHING more amazing then this, life just can't be more incredible.

Thanks to all of the 5 star crew. You've made many dreams come true :)

J, K, L pods / South San Juan Island

It was raining today but flat calm out on the water. We traveled east to where most of the southern residents were feeding - most of them had traveled down Rosario Strait. We arrived to find most of the animals spread far apart individually, maybe in two's and sometimes three's. They were situated all the way from the shoreline of south San Juan Island out into the middle of the strait.

Soon after arriving, we were graced by a mother and calf who passed by our bow very close. We saw L74 / Saanich and L79 / Skana as both of them individually passed close by as well. We also caught a social moment as a male spy hopped approximately 200 yards from our bow. For the most part the animals stayed in a feeding pattern throughout our trip. The dark skies and waters made for excellent photographic contrasts. Fall is definately here. It's amazing to think that we have been out on the water 8 months now. Time sure flies when your having fun :)

Lpod / San Juan Island

This afternoon we traveled east to San Juan Island. We arrived and found mainly Lpod foraging near False Bay individually and in small groups. We were pretty lucky to see some calfs this time around - one that we think is L67 and calf L101 Aurora (L98 / Luna's brother). We also saw L72 / Racer as well as L57 / Faith hunting in the distance. Saw several small groupings of 3-5 animals. Some very social behavior by the jouveniles and calfs including one very close inspection of our boat. You can see the white outline pass below the bow of the boat and see the calf rolled over on it's side looking at us from under the water.

Saw a calf playing with kelp - had it drapped over it's head and through the mouth. Breaching, tail lobbing, belly rolls and other interesting social behaviors were displayed. Near the end of our trip, a small group consisting of a calf, mother or sister and big brother (pre jouvenile male) were playing right at our bow. Mom sat in the water just watching the calf and male play. Nothing could prepare us for the large head stand he would do right infront of our bow, and twice! It was spectacular - something i've not seen before. Then the baby appeared spyhopping and pec slapping at their larger family mate. It was an incredible treat.

Uploaded right from the boat

traveling along Haro Strait
Originally uploaded by orcagirl.

Cool Catamaran photos

Taken from Clover Point / Victoria on Sept 21





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