As of now the season has been incredible!! We have had whales on every tour so far since we began our official season, which was June 1st. The Southern Resident Killer Whales (SRKW) have been very active with a lot of various surface behaviour, such as, tail & pectoral slapping, spy hopping and full body breaching. You throw in all of that photogenic behaviour, add a lot of sunshine & flat calm seas equals to what we refer to as the perfect "princess day". The photos that we have been anything but spectacular.
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| photo credit: Scott Stevenson Photography |
It does appear that the continuous presence of most of all 3 Pods (J, K & L) would suggest that the food, which is primarily Chinook salmon is plentiful. We are even lucky enough to catch glimpses of a few romances too, which is very exciting as there has not been a birth in the SRKW for the last 2 summer seasons. However, the gestation period for Killer Whales is about 18 months, which would suggest the potential for births in the upcoming seasons are possible. BUT!! What is even more promising are the rumours of J32 (Rhapsody) who is an 18 year old female who looks quite pregnant!! Check the photo below.
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| Photo Credit: Josh McInnes from the Transient Killer Whales Research Project |
We all in the industry and excited and nervous about the potential of a possible birth this season as we are aware of the importance for the population whose numbers have dwindled down to 79 Killer Whales in total. Stay tuned for more updates about the possible expecting mum, Rhapsody.
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