Thursday, May 14, 2009
Orca whales, on our side of the San Juans- again.
J-Pod is southbound in Rosario Strait right now!
For those of you who are not familiar with the San Juan Islands, that means that they are right off of Anacortes! Perfect timing for an Early Bird (9 a.m.) Burrows Island trip.
These Orca whales have been spending a lot of time on our side of the islands over the last couple of years. Scientists are thinking that it probably has to do with more salmon swimming up Rosario Strait, which makes a lot of sense.
Bob Otis, a scientist with a 20 year Orca whale study located on the west side of San Juan Island, says that in 2008 the whale sightings there were 50% down from previous years. Conversely, the Orca whale encounters on our side of the San Juans were through the roof!
The good news, for those of us in Anacortes, is that the travel patterns appear to be similar to last year.
For those of you who are not familiar with the San Juan Islands, that means that they are right off of Anacortes! Perfect timing for an Early Bird (9 a.m.) Burrows Island trip.
These Orca whales have been spending a lot of time on our side of the islands over the last couple of years. Scientists are thinking that it probably has to do with more salmon swimming up Rosario Strait, which makes a lot of sense.
Bob Otis, a scientist with a 20 year Orca whale study located on the west side of San Juan Island, says that in 2008 the whale sightings there were 50% down from previous years. Conversely, the Orca whale encounters on our side of the San Juans were through the roof!
The good news, for those of us in Anacortes, is that the travel patterns appear to be similar to last year.
# posted by Anacortes Kayaks @ 9:19 AM 
