Today was shocking and exciting for many of us out there. Did you know that we have two genetically distinct ecotypes of orca here in the Salish Sea? There are ten in the world (that we know of!) and we are lucky enough to have two right here in the San Juan Islands. The Southern Residents specialize in fish and the Transient/Bigg's specialize in marine mammals.
The T124A's on the move
The most interesting thing about the two ecotypes is that they don't socialize together. They don't interbreed, they don't even speak the same language, and in fact - if they come across one another they will fight! The Residents are known to kill dolphins and porpoises, even though they don't eat them. It could be a territorial thing. It really comes down to numbers - Residents travel in very large pods, while their much stealthier counterparts usually only travel with their direct matriline.
The T124A's racing towards White Rock
Today we witnessed the T124A's passing through San Juan Channel. We could see on the GPS reports that the Southern Residents were around the corner of Henry Island and predicted that the T124A's would turn around as soon as they heard those chatterbox Resi's come around the corner. We were correct! They turned around and fled around Spieden Island. The Residents came after them to drive the point home, then resumed their course. (We never saw them closer than three miles, but Soundwatch reported their movements to us, so we knew exactly where they were).
In the afternoon we watched the two ecotypes cross paths again, this time near Saturna Island, Canada. This time the Residents chased the T124A's with intention, halfway to Point Roberts, still three miles away, but closing the gap. The Bigg's hustled out of there, holding a steady 5 knots. The Resi's backed off and we could see them on the horizon near the Bell Chains (miles away) through our binoculars, breaching and posturing for over an hour.
Then, all 40 Residents joined up into a group and porpoised at speed towards Patos Island. They spread out across a few miles and did a total sweep of the area until they found the T124A's again and once again chased them. Finally they retreated to the far side of Point Roberts, while the Bigg's were basically stuck up in the corner of the Straight of Georgia/Boundary Bay. That's where we had to leave them for the night, so we don't know what happened next, but it was amazing to witness!
Photos by Liberty
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