Friday, January 29, 2010

Orcas in Kodiak





These Orcas were spotted near the boat docks at the first of the week. They spent quite a bit of time in one location. It seems that there were quite a few sea lions nearby and the orcas tend to enjoy dining on, not with, them. These were all females as can be evidenced by the shape of their dorsal fin.

This was actually a little early for the orcas to arrive. April seems to be the primary time for migration but they have been spotted through out the year.

These photos were taken by a friend of our that, luckily, could run out of her house and photograph the orcas when they were spotted. So, a special thanks goes to Annjannette Vanio.


1 comment:

Unknown said...

Corrections: I've been told that Dall's porpoise is the most likely around our waters and that is probably what I saw on the ferry trip.The Pacific White Sided porpoise looks quite similar, so it might have been it. Both like to play with boats at high speed...up to 35 knots for Dall'(even faster than Orcas, but they swim in a zig-zag pattern). Maybe they stopped following 'cause we were not travelling fast enough for them.

Peale's porpoise was incorrect; they live at equal distance from the pole...but the south, not the northern hemisphere. Sorry.

And by the way, even though Dall's has color markings very similar to Orcas, Orcas like them for one purose: to eat them.