John got word that there were Killer Whales off Cox Point and they might be Southern Resident Killer Whales. He jumped in the boat to head out to the whales and see if he could get any identification photos of the whales to see who they were. Southern Resident Killer Whales had been seen almost three weeks ago moving up the coast. When he got out to the whales he was able to get some photos and confirm they were SRKW. Howie on the morning Whale Watching Tour was able to see the killer whales too!  We do not get to see these whales often so we sent the photos to Ken Balcomb at the Center for Whale Research in Friday Harbour and he confirmed the whales to be J Pod. 

J Pod is the pod most likely to appear year-round in the waters of the San Juan Islands and Southern Gulf Islands, lower Puget Sound (near Seattle), and Georgia Strait. This 24-member pod tends to frequent the west side of San Juan Island in mid to late spring.  J pod's mature males are now J26, J27.

John left J Pod as they were heading down the coast. Sea conditions were not very favourable to get great identification shots of the whales. 

Photos: John Forde