Whales

If you are interested in whales and their comings and goings, Vancouver Island and the San Juan Islands have a lot to offer. Five magnificent blue whales including a calf have been sighted off the Queen Charlotte Islands. They weigh in at 100 tonnes each. Blue whales were hunted almost to extintion until hunting was banned in 1965. Only about 10,000 now exist.

But in and around the Juan de Fuca Strait are pods of orcas, sometimes called killer whales but that's a misnomer, unless you're a salmon and end up as an orca's dinner. There's a cause for celebration in the orca world. A new baby was born to the L Pod and named L110. Its mother is 17 years old, L83. Another birth was celebrated in J pod so that's good news. L Pod has 43 members, K Pod has 19 and J Pod has 25.

Some not so good news. A barge tipped near the orca whale reserve on Johnson Strait dumping diesel fuel into the water on August 20. Fortunately it has dissipated and the whales seem to be okay. They are still calling. The orcas rub themselves on the rocks and beach and commercial vessels are not allowed to get close.

Apart from the resident orcas, transient orcas do turn up now and then and these are the bad guys come to town. Given half a chance they will attack, kill and eat another orca. They will dine on unwary seals and sea lions.

That's the whale story for the time being.

Back to other important news. My contemporary romance, ISABELLE'S DIARY, will be released on September 6th - to much fanfare I hope. As of now my two books published by Cerridwen Press, A Very Difficult Man, a historical romance and Isabelle's Diary are e-published. Word is afoot that some Cerridwen Press books will appear in print within the next few months. They will be competively priced. I will send out word on Facebook and on my Blog. Stay posted.

Anita Birt
www.anitabirt.com