Jodi C. Smith is the Executive Director of Naked Whale Research. She has relocated to the Irish Beach area to study the endangered Southern Resident pods of Killer Whales - known as J, K and L pods. These Orcas are on the move. They have spent the summer months south of Vancouver Island and in Puget Sound. Now they are passing by the Mendonoma Coast. On Jan. 10th K pod was spotted a mile off of Little River. Jodi went out in a boat to get these photos. As you can probably tell, the seas were rough.
This last photo shows the very tall dorsal fin. According to Jodi these Orcas are specialized fish eaters, with Chinook salmon being their favorite.
Today the weather is clear with few whitecaps on the ocean - perfect weather for spotting Gray Whales and hopefully K pod! Thanks to Jodi for allowing me to share her photos with you. To learn more about her work, here's her website:
http://www.nakedwhaleresearch.org/ You can also follow her blog on this website.
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5 comments:
Wait until they find the seal nursery at Haven's Neck.
Jodi says these pods have specialized into eating salmon. The Harbor Seals and Sea Lions still should be on guard. I once watched a big group of Sea Lions headed for Haven's Neck with two Orcas close behind. Boy, were they swimming FAST!
This is a great observation and worth noting a difference between the Southern Resident killer whales and the transient killer whales.
Southern Residents only eat fish. Transients are more opportunistic and go after seals and sea lions. Any observations of killer whales going after seals, sea lions or other large prey is very helpful to Naked Whale Research and Jodi when sharing sightings!
Thank you, Ty. I will get the word out via my column about this difference.
This is great information. I will be in Irish Beach the winter of 2014 and plan to coordinate all sightings of whales and pinnipeds with NWR and other interested parties.
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