Friday!  What a day!  We spent this afternoon with the L-47 group….and, definitely a very very small one swimming along beside the three adult females.  But the big, no, BIG, question is….who is the mother???  This was such a special afternoon for me…watching this group of L pod females travel along with a new small wee one inbetween them, no, ahead of them, and no….off to the side…no…in back..no….and so went the wonderful time on the water watching what had to be a one or two day old calf in the Southern Resident Orca whale population!!

The adult females put on a few displays of surface active behavior…in the form of cartwheels, tail slapping, and the photo above which shows a big back stroke with pec fins in the air and tail too!  Then there would be more traveling together as a family, and the new calf did a few “chin ups” of his / her own…and some porpoise dives…all seemingly healthy, active, energetic behavior!  WOW!

Finally it was time to turn for home, and what should appear by a Minke whale surfacing to the west.  We motored over there to take a closer look and got a few more sightings of diving behavior.  Then when we turned for home once again…yet another Minke whale surfaced and disappeared, going in the opposite direction.  There were two Minkes!

We also found a Steller Sea lion on Whale Rocks on the way back, many Harbor seals and Cormorants as well.  The sun came out, the water was flat…and it was a fine motor trip back into Friday Harbor!

A very special day on the water for me!

~Nan