High Fins

 Having already seen some Humpback Whale fins, I was pretty sure that the highlight of the tour had been had.  But it wasn't very long until the Captain notified us that there was a pod of Orca Whales nearby as well.  This came as a bit of a surprise to me...I was not expecting Orcas in Alaska, particularly not so close to the shore and the little town of Seward.  It's ocean, but not way out in the middle of the ocean.  Yet here they were, almost waving fins/giving high fives, er fins,  at us in sight of the coast...this one even came up to take a look at us.



The fin of each whale is unique.  If you spend enough time looking at fins, you can identify a whale or dolphin by the uniqueness of the fin, among other markers if you are lucky enough to get that close.  The year I volunteered at Dolphin Quest in Bermuda there were 3 calves...I could tell them apart by their fins...plus the one little guy was a bit spastic.  Whale Biologists say the same thing.  That is how they know populations.  And that's how they know that the average life span of whales in the wild is over 30-50 years.  The oldest known whale is "Granny", and has been sighted between California and Southern Alaska with her pod since 1911.  Yup.  She was confirmed sighted last year at 103 years of age.  Wikipedia quotes a Captain Pidock as saying "She was born before the Titanic went down...can you imagine the things she has seen in her lifetime?"  I thought that was a pretty fabulous thing to consider.

 

I have no way of knowing if this might be Granny's pod or not.  Whales are a matriarchal society and they travel as a family unit.  Orca whales have had bad press since the year 70 AD when Pliny the Elder in Ancient Greece described their fearsome habit of ramming other whales as though in battle.  The genus name Orcinus translates to "of the Kingdom of the Dead."  While they are an apex predator, they are not known to harm humans in the wild.  And while we think of them eating other large sealife, which can be true, 95% of their diet comes from the Salmon up here.  So I will call these gorgeous creatures Orcas rather than Killer Whales and try to dispel the bad boy reputation...these momma's boys stay with the pod for about 15 years before they even think about finding a girlfriend.  They maintain close ties with their mother through adulthood.  The pod is a highly structured social environment.  Orcas are known to be highly intelligent, playful, and sometimes interactive with their human fans.  These two were putting on a bit of a show for another boat that was a bit closer than we were.

 



And then there was a 3rd, much smaller fin....a baby Orca swimming with its momma!

Once again I thought that was about as good as this day could get.  I stood there and watched the little guy and his mom glide below the surface thinking what a cool experience it had been.  Just then, as my guard was down, one of the Orca's leapt from the water and went airborne.  My jaw dropped in awe, as did my camera hand.  As an afterthought, I randomly remembered to push the button as my hand and jaw continued to drop.  I had missed the once in a lifetime shot.  Well...pretty much.  I did get the little blur below, but only me and possibly Rebekah would ever know what it was by looking.

 



This is the large splash it made...that's in focus.  Sigh.

 

These things have a lot to do with luck.  I was lucky enough to see what I had seen.  I was blissfully happy.  But THESE guys had the best luck around....the Orca's were playing right in front of their boat the whole time.  Just means I will have to try my luck to get even closer another day.