Day 1 cont'd

Back under way and just rounding the next point, suddenly one of the guides shouted, "whales"!! And there they were. Orca. One of the most beautiful sights I had ever seen in my life. And we were only in the first few hours of our first day.

We had found the B7 matriline that belongs to the B1 pod and is part of the A clan. Killer Whale pods, or families, are formed around the females in the pod (a matrilineal family structure). No whale, male or female, ever leaves its mother. In the summer in Johnston Strait, the many pods are brought together for mating, feeding and social purposes, but still members of a family never stray far from each other. This makes the job of identifying the 210 northern resident killer whales a lot simpler, although it is still no easy task, and takes many years of careful observation. The B7 pod, as with all resident killer whale pods, is named after the oldest female in the pod. (or the oldest when the pod was named) B7 was born in 1947 and today still swims with her family which consists of her four sons and two daughters. Her son B10, born in 1979, is a very distinctive animal for his large black dorsal fin is almost completely flopped over. Scientists are still not sure what causes this for it is very rare in wild whales.

Lee drove past the whales giving them a wide berth, then slowed to a stop and cut the engine so the whales would hopefully pass close to our boat and not be disturbed by the engine noise. Gathered on the back deck, cameras poised, we waited in a growing silent anticipation.

Nothing…still nothing. How could they vanish so fast? Then with a simultaneous "Whoosh" of seven exhalations and a rush of water accompanied by our shrieks of joy, they appeared only meters from our vessel, their black skin glistening in the sun. Although these whales have such a peaceful and harmless, almost gentle feel about them, seeing their immense bulk so very near made my heart pound more with excitement than fear. But they just wanted a peak of our world as we want a peak of thiers. Soon the whales carried on their way and we continued on to our awaiting destination: Boat Bay.

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	History of the Kayak
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