We had the Southern Resident Killer Whales K Pod on all our Whale Watching Tours yesterday! I manifested orcas the night before because I knew we had guests on board who really, really wanted to see Killer Whales. The whales were picked up coming down the coast near Hot Springs Cove and we were able to see them off Cleland Island. John and I knew they were SRKW but we were not sure which pod they were. We don't see these whales very often! We were able to get some photo identification shots with our permit. The killer whales were last seen traveling down the coast, likely back to the Salish Sea!
Afterwards we sent the photos to Ken Balcomb at the Centre for Whale Research in Washington state. He confirmed they were K Pod! With only 18 members, K Pod is the smallest of the three pods in the Southern Resident Killer Whale community. The oldest female in K pod is K12, estimated to have been born in 1972. K pod has three mature males, K21, and K26, and K25. The most recent calf born into K pod is K44 (male, born 2011), the first known calf of K27.
As with most marine mammals, their movements are determined by their food source. For the Southern Residents, this means following the salmon returning to the Fraser River in British Columbia every summer. In the winter, when Chinook salmon are less abundant, they must expand their range to find food.
SRKW Status: Endangered. Designated endangered in Canada in 2001, USA in 2005.
Please note that when we are photographing killer whales with our permit we do not have paying guests on board and we send our photo IDs to DFO, Strawberry Isle Marine Research Society and the Center for Whale Research.
