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| San Juan Islands, Washington State circa May, 2000 |
The Pacific Northwest has many opportunities for whale watching. My first trip allowed me to take a short boat trip out of Depot Bay, Oregon in 1994. The grey whales were swimming near shore in one of their migrations. Once you learn what to look for it becomes a fun challenge to try and spot them from the Pacific Coast Highway. Gotta be careful though, don't want to miss the next curve as you drive.
Several years later in May of 2000 I had the opportunity to take a similar boat trip out of Washington and tour around the San Juan Islands in search of several orca pods. We took a large ferry out to the islands and there caught one of the larger boats for the whale watching adventure.
The San Juan Islands are part of Washington State. The four main islands being San Juan, Orcas, Lopez and Shaw Islands. There are over 172 islands in the area. Known for whale watching tours, bike rides (part of Trek Tri Island - coming in a story some day) and pretty much any outside activity you can imagine.
For more information refer to
http://www.visitsanjuans.com/
Anxious to get the "great shots" I had my trusty Cannon ready to go.
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| The First Sighting |
We finally found a Pod and they began showing off for us. The pods in the area are named or coded by researchers who have been able to identify the individual whales. J-Pod is one group we caught up to and followed for about an hour.
According to the few articles I have read, orca pods are usually lead by a dominant female with males mating with females from other pods.
Much like the dolphin tours out of Savannah, GA there are rules and regulations with regards to boats and the whales. On this particular day there were multiple boats sailing in the area, all of which did their best to kill the motors or divert direction to avoid contact with the pods. On the other hand they, like us, were also doing their best to get a good sighting of the whales.
J-Pod's number one male is known as J1 or Ruffles due to his wavy (5 Foot) dorsal fin. It is believed Ruffles' mother is the leader of J-Pod. I did some research online with regards to Ruffles and J-Pod and it appears Ruffles has recently gone missing and presumed deceased.
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| Ruffles, male leader of the pod Last seen November 21, 2010 near Victoria BC |
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| Ruffles/J1 circa May, 2000 |
http://www.whidbeyexaminer.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=1&ArticleID=5479
or simply google "Ruffles Orca" for more up to date information regarding this iconic Pacific Northwest Orca. I was surprised to see as many articles as I did as these photos are 12 years old, but it appears Ruffles was pushing 60 years old. His mother is assumed to be close to 100! Average life expectancy of orca whales, you ask? Try 29 for males and 54 for females!
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| Good Bye Ruffles... |
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| MISSED THAT ONE!! |
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| Ruffles/J1 circa May, 2000 |
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| Just a different angle.... |
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| A time long before grey hair |
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| Big and Little |
This should really qualify as part of the "Sightseeing USA" series but then just about all of my articles could. Whether you are visiting the San Juan Islands of Washington State or the Swamps of the Southeast, take a camera and be sure to schedule time for seeing the wildlife of the area. Be sure to take a moment to read up on Ruffles and his fellow whales. It is truly incredible.
hope you enjoyed.
as always,
bkd
"He deliberately left you your boat because he wants to fight you alone on the sea." Rachael in Orca, the movie
"You're me, he says... I'm you, he says... you're my... drunk driver... he says..." Captain Nolan in Orca
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Of course I have to be rude to you now. So here goes: you bastard! Fantastic shots and a good read. Im now more obsessed than ever!
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