Today was the first time I have seen east point in what seems like months. We ended up at the south end of Saturna to catch up with L pod, headed north. They were cruising. When we got there they were moving at a slowish speed, which was great because we were able to catch up to them before they headed out into the Straight of Georgia. We were there for maybe 5 minutes when suddenly, things started to escalate. The leaders kicked it into high gear. They sped up and started porpoising, occasionally surfacing simultaneously in beautiful "chorus lines" 6 or 7 whales across. We motored off shore of the whales, trying to keep pace. Apparently the whales had other ideas. They always do. A few of them turned in our direction. The captain quickly maneuvered the boat away, farther offshore, but we were met by more sneaky whales that surfaced off our stren. Again we turned and tried to move farther offshore. No dice. A third group of whales surfaced outside of us. We were surrounded. We shut down to let the whales pass. We dropped the hydrophone and heard some faint calls.
One of the things that fascinates me about orcas is their apparent apathy or even disinterest in boats. It is rare for an orca to approach (granted we are actively trying to stay out of their way) and stay close to the boat. Most of the time I feel like they are just giving us a swim by. Someone swims past us, decides we are not interesting, and then reports to the rest of the group, who, from then on out seem content to stay at a distance. These whales did not appear to be interested in us, just the area we were in. I was expecting them to pass as usual, but instead they slowed and started milling around us. No one was particularly close, just milling on all sides of the boat. Perhaps there were salmon hiding under us? We sat, watching and listening to their forceful exhalations. We saw L25 (Ocean Sun) cruise by. She is one of the oldest members of L pod. At 83 years of age she is not too far behind Granny (L2). We also say a couple of the little L pod calves scooting around.
It was an awesome day.
Laura, naturalist