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Orcas off B.C.’s coast love the taste of shark

But they’re wearing their teeth flat on the abrasive skin of the sleeper shark, study says

By Larry Pynn, Vancouver SunJanuary 17, 2011 Scientists know little about the offshore killer whales, identified off the coast in 1989, due to their nomadic movements.

Photograph by: Brian Gisborne, handout

A mysterious population of offshore killer whales in B.C. are specialists at killing sharks — to the detriment of their teeth...

Announcing the Photo winners for 2011 in the category of whale photo: Janet Holba of WI. Winner for "wildlife" photo is Patty Quales of NC. These will be highlighted in the new 2011 sanjuansafaris.com website due to be published March 1, 2011.

Naturalist Gear Down Friday November 5, 2010 10 to 4 organized by The Whale Museum

I took my first naturalist class in about 1996 from The Whale Museum. Enjoyed it and learned so much I took it at least another three times.

This class, organized by The Whale Museum, was the ‘gear down’ session or ‘end of the season’ get together for reviewing and learning for both professional naturalists and  naturalists not working in the field.

Greg Hertel, a now retired school teacher gave a...

BORN: Another new calf in the Southern Resident Killer Whales!

A new L Pod calf, initially spotted in Juan de Fuca Strait last week, is the first recorded calf for 20-year-old L82 said Ken Balcomb, executive director of The Center for Whale Research in Friday Harbor, Wa.

It is the second L Pod calf of the season, but L47..., the other mom, has not had any of her previous four calves survive,

"This one is doing well so far, so we hope this will break the pattern,"

http://www...

The daily trips may be done, but that does not mean that I do not still get the chance to get out on the water.  Today we had a charter and that is really the way to go if you are a naturalist.  Or even if you are a guest.  The groups tend to be relaxed and fun-loving and ready for anything.  There are usually fewer people on the boat and sometimes the crew even gets snacks.  It also means that the routine gets shaken up.  We leave at different times and sometimes even from a...

Southern Resident Killer Whales. Photo courtesy of NOAA/NMFS

"Until we meet again."

Well, it is sad to say, but today was our last daily trip.  We still have a few Saturdays left, but this is it for the daily grind.  It has been a season like no other, with the orcas being found along the coast of San Juan Island most every day.  They still do not keep any kind of schedule and there is no guarantee of seeing them, but what a fabulous way to spend one's days.  We have racked up...

The orcas decided to swim out west past Victoria, B.C., so we went hunting for other wildlife.  A valiant, although

Steller's Sea Lion. Photo courtesy of NeteBini

flawed, attempt was made by several boats, ours included, to find minke whales at the south end of Lopez Island.  They should have been there and Capt. Mike and I both saw one, but they seemed to be going on forever dives and we never saw them come back up.  It hardly qualifies as a viable sighting if all of our...

San Juan Islands and Mount Baker. Photos courtesy of planetware.com

I am envious of those people that can sit down and power out a blog entry everyday and have it be different, interesting and engaging.  I am finding that as the season grows colder, quieter and slower, I am having difficulty finding the necessary inspiration.  Now, I do not want to give the impression that I am bored or that I in some way am not excited to continue to see the orcas every day.  What a gift it is...

Wow! That is pretty much the only way to describe our tour today. Dream up your perfect vision of a whale watching trip and we pretty much had it. We started the whale watching portion of the trip at Turn Point on Stuart Island. Captain Craig parked the boat with the perfect view a Turn Point lighthouse and the tippy-top of Mount Baker peeking out above giant fluffy distant clouds. The sun was shining down on us and the waters were calm. The warm land breeze from Stuart Island blew...