||| SALISH SEA CHRONICLES by NATE AVERNA |||
As a kid, I can remember watching our Southern Resident orca almost exclusively. Humpback whales did not frequent the Salish Sea after decades of population decline from whaling. Mammal eating orca (Biggs orca) seldom visited our local waterway due to the seal culling of the 1970s.
I loved watching orca like Ruffles with the wavy ridges on the trailing edge of his dorsal fin. Or Blossom who always exhaled just before she breached the water’s surface. The bubbles from her exhalation looked like she was carrying around a large bouquet of spring cherry blossoms.
Today, species have flipped. Salmon are down and seals are up. We hardly see the Southern Resident orca. Instead, sightings of mammal eating Biggs orca and humpback whales are more and more commonplace.
Bigg’s Orca like Galliano (aka Mr. Floppy Fin) with a genetic disorder which caused his dorsal fin to slump, and humpback whales like Big Momma, a great grandmother humpback whale, are now the recognizable names.
Unrelenting change and species diversity drive the Salish Sea to constantly reinvent itself. It’s what makes our backyard so amazing!
Join Deer Harbor Charters on Orcas Island for a whale & wildlife tour from the Deer Harbor Marina or Rosario Resort next time! Reserve your space online @ deerharborcharters.com or call 36-376-5989. We hope to see you soon!
Good reminder, Nate, that changes in ecosystems, which are by definition dynamic rather than static, are to be expected. Nothing stays the same. Every day brings some new change. The only question is whether you are helping to guide those changes or are you simply reacting to them?