J-Pod's Been Around

The last three afternoons I've had the pleasure of watching J-Pod off the west side of San Juan Island - a sure sign that the summer season is here at last. The whales have mostly been very spread out, fairly far offshore, surfacing very sporadically, and back lit in the late afternoon light, which all play a part in bad conditions for taking photos. Here's one image that's worth sharing, though:

J34 Doublestuf (in back) and J28 Polaris (in front)

Doublestuf is the oldest offspring of J22 Oreo, and has a younger sibling in J38 Cookie, and the family group is affectionately known as "The Cookies". Doubestuf is only 11 years old, but he's already showing the characteristic "fin sprout" of a young teenage male. Much like their human counterparts, young male orcas go through a gawky growth spurt from about 13-18 years of age, where their fin "sprouts" from the three-foot high dorsal fin of a female and juvenile and grows until it reaches up to six feet in height.

A couple of weeks ago while photographing plants on my street a lady stopped me to asked me if I was taking pictures of her weeds (to which I responded, simply, "Yes"). Funny, no one ever asks me what I'm doing when I'm photographing orcas.