Face-to-face with killers
- Richard Philpot
- Feb 15
- 9 min read
August 7, 2004: Ten abreast, they swam straight at us. Our 12-foot kayak never felt so tiny. The killer whales (orcas) powered across the ocean surface at 10 times our top paddling speed, their combined 60 tons pushing the sea aside like a small ferry. Their short, curved dorsal fins suggested they were mothers with their teenage sons and daughters.
Table of Contents
Photographs, videos, audio, and text Copyright © 2026 Richard Philpot/SGIOUTSIDE.ca.
A close look at Salish Sea killer whales (CE).
We’d paddled in this area many times, but the onrushing orcas ensured that this wasn’t to be just another paddle.
Face-to-face with killers
Ten abreast, they swam straight at us. Our 12-foot kayak never felt so tiny. The killer whales (orcas) powered across the ocean surface at 10 times our top paddling speed, their combined 60 tons pushing the sea aside like a small ferry. Their short, curved dorsal fins suggested they were mothers with their teenage sons and daughters.
They disappeared below the ocean surface every thirty seconds or so, then suddenly reappeared, the tips of their shiny black dorsal fins splitting the water, growing taller and taller until their heads suddenly broke the surface. WHOPHF. Almost in unison, they blew the stale air from their lungs. Each plume turned to water vapour as it condensed in the cold air. Each “blow” hung in the air for several seconds. Diving again, the blow was the only evidence that we’d just seen ten whales.
Lisa and I sat atop our Ocean Kayak just a few hundred metres from North Pender Island’s Thieves Bay Marina. We’d paddled in this area many times, but the onrushing orcas ensured that this wasn’t to be just another paddle. As it became apparent that the orcas’ route to their evening feeding ground was through us, our feelings began to shift from enthusiasm to nervous apprehension. Attempting to escape their path was futile, so we remained stationary—watching and waiting.
Moments earlier, we’d seen another member of this killer whale pod playfully breach four times, a hundred metres west of us. What if one of the orcas now heading straight for us decided to mimic this spectacular aerial-to-belly-flop manoeuvre? We were unaware of any incidents of orcas intentionally capsizing a kayak. But what about unintentionally?
Now they were less than 40 metres from our plastic boat . . .
About killer whales (orcas)
Most scientists call them killer whales; the rest of us generally refer to them as orcas. The Nootka First Nation on the west side of Vancouver Island uses the name Qaqawun, and North Vancouver Island’s Kwakiutl Nation uses the name Max’inux. Other common names include blackfish, grampus, and killer.
Whichever you choose to call the species, you may be surprised to learn they’re not even whales but one of thirty-five (35) species and the physically largest member of the oceanic dolphin family, Delphinidae. They’ve long been considered whales because of their size. Two orca ecotypes visit the Southern Gulf Islands: Southern Resident, which are almost exclusively fish eaters, and Bigg’s (previously named Transient), which eat warm-blooded creatures like seals, sea lion pups, porpoises, and seabirds.
At last count (by San Juan Island, WA-based Center for Whale Research), 74 Southern Resident killer whales (SRKW) make the Salish Sea their primary residence (which includes Canada’s Southern Gulf Islands and the United States’ San Juan Islands and Puget Sound). This fish-eating community comprises three families or pods—J, K, and L—with J pod being the most frequently seen in the SGI area. The Center for Whale Research “names” the orcas with an alpha-numeric designation based on their pod and birth order (e.g., J62 was born and numbered before J44).
SRKW are individually identified by their unique saddle patch markings and dorsal fin and are talked about using their alpha-numeric designation. Their saddle patch—the whitish-grey pigmentation on their back—varies from orca to orca (shape, colour, and scratches). Their dorsal fins vary in size and shape, exhibiting distinct nicks and scars and changing over the course of the animal’s lifetime. Most maturing males (15+ years) are easily identified by tall, straightish dorsal fins achieving a height of two metres (approx. 6 feet).
The Bigg’s orca population is estimated at 350, with certain families seen more frequently in the SGI region. Their dorsal fins are pointy, and their saddle patches are larger and evenly grey. Bigg’s travel in smaller groups (2-12) than Southern Residents when silently stalking their next meal—harbour seals or sea lions hauled out on rock outcroppings, or sea birds lounging on the water’s surface. In 2002, Salt Springers watched in horror as five Bigg’s corralled and killed a small minke whale in Ganges Harbour.
Distinguishing young orca males and females is not easy, as both share panda-like markings and the same curved-back shape to their dorsal fins. When youngsters breach or roll over, exposing their bellies, the male reveals an elongated white pattern around its genital slit; the female’s pattern is somewhat rounded with mammary slits. One in six calves dies before their first birthday. Mothers transfer toxins to their calves during gestation and nursing, often resulting in failed pregnancies.
Southern Resident orca pods are matriarchal. Even the largest and oldest males travel with their mothers, leaving for short periods to breed with reproductive females in the community’s other pods. When the matriarch dies, family members stay together, maintaining the family unit. Grandmothers play a crucial role in teaching youngsters where and how to forage for meals. It’s rare to see all SRKWs travelling together due to dwindling Chinook salmon stocks, their primary prey, which forces them to spread out in search of food (and travel greater distances).
When underwater, Southern Resident orcas use echolocation clicks to navigate and find food, and repetitive pulsed call types and tonal whistles to communicate. The three pods use their own dialects but can likely understand each other. At least twenty-five call types have been identified. Bigg’s are a relatively silent species and don’t mix with the Residents.
A Pender Island friend, Derek Holzaphel (naturediver.com), was on the Thieves Bay Marina breakwater and captured Lisa’s reaction to J pod orcas swimming under and past our kayak.
The orcas were 20 metres away! “What if they’re transients?” Lisa shrieked.
Face-to-face with killers cont’d
Now closer, still heading directly for us. Then in unison, they disappeared! We waited, our hearts in our throats. WHOPHF. They surfaced again, to our left, just 6 metres away.
“Oh, my God!” Lisa shrieked, arms shot straight up. “What if they’re transients?” My reaction was a huge sigh and a single word, “Wow!”
Moments later, the male known as J1 (recognized by his distinct wavy dorsal fin) powered past us, better late than never and confirming that our “close encounter” had been with fish-eating Southern Resident orcas. Comforting to know.
A few thoughts today
Since Lisa and my exhilarating on-the-water encounter with J pod twenty years ago—only the eighth time I’d seen orcas since moving to Pender in August 2003—I’ve had the good fortune of watching the Southern Residents from shore or while kayaking on more than 400 occasions. Over the past two decades, Lisa became involved with the granddaddy of Salish Sea researchers, Ken Balcomb, and his not-for-profit, San Juan Island, WA-based organization, the Center for Whale Research. Over time, Lisa transitioned from volunteer to Communications Manager.
Lisa’s and my knowledge of orcas has grown substantially since August 2004. And, along with joy hearing about and seeing new calves, we suffered through close to seventy deaths (anthropomorphising the grief experienced by the Southern Resident orca families). The deceased animals had swum by our favoured shoreline viewing location at Thieves Bay. The whales we saw frequently and could identify were those we grieved most intensely: K7, L21, L57 (“Faith”), K11, L7, J1 (“Ruffles”), J30, K40, L2, J8, L53, J14, J28 (“Polaris”) J34, J2 (“Granny”), J17, L41 (“Mega”), K21, and others.
Our 20-year love affair with the Southern Residents has allowed us to repeatedly experience excited anticipation, knowing the remarkable animals were making their way north in Swanson Channel toward Thieves Bay. Every time, we’ve been filled with awe as they swam by, except for the odd spyhop or breach or tail slap, mostly oblivious to the human eyes and array of cameras following their sleek and powerful stroke. Every experience has left us feeling privileged and humbled.
One cannot observe the Southern Resident orcas without feeling wonderstruck, nor without appreciating the importance of protecting them and their waterways to ensure their future safe passage.
The human-created threats to the orcas’ survival are real. All of us can play a part in helping brighten their future (042525).
Recommended Websites
Center for Whale Research. This San Juan Island-based organization has monitored and studied the Salish Sea orcas since 1976. Learn about orca behaviours, identification, research, and how to help the gravely endangered Southern Residents, and see spectacular photographs from recent encounters with SRKWs and Bigg’s.
Raincoast Conservation Foundation. Learn about this British Columbia-based group’s research and efforts to protect the Southern Resident killer whales and their habitat.
Saturna Island Research and Education Society (SIMRES). “. . . a community-based non-profit organization building awareness of marine life and ecosystems in the Salish Sea.”
This Southern Resident orca appeared to be waving hello or goodbye (CE0231).
Biological profile: Killer Whale/Orca (Orcinus)
Status: SRKW—Endangered (Canada and United States); Bigg’s—Threatened in Canada (2003).
Name: From the Latin phrase Orcinus orca; Other names—killer whale, blackfish, grampus, killer, Qaqawun, and Max’inux.
Life Span (SRKW): Females—Estimated 35 years, but can live much longer (J2 was thought to be 80 or older when she died in 2016); Males—19 years, although J1 was estimated to be 59 years old. Most orcas disappear below the ocean surface when they die.
Diet: SRKW are fish eaters (80% Chinook salmon), estimated to eat 18-25 adult salmon daily (at least 1,300 salmon to sustain the community); pods’ movements are determined by the availability of food. Bigg’s mostly consume seals, sea lions, and porpoises.
Avg. Size & Weight: Females—6-7 metres (18-22 feet) and 3,500-5,000 kg (8,000–11,000 lb.); Males—6-8 metres (20-26 feet) and 5,400 kg or more (12,000 lb.); Calves—2-3 metres (7-8 feet) about 180 kg at birth (400 lb.).
Physical Features:
Colouration: Black with whitish-grey saddle patch and white belly.
Head: Conical-shaped with small rostrum and 10-13 teeth on each side of both jaws. Rip food into chunks or eat whole rather than chew it. Eyes on the side of the head, below, and in front of the white eye patch (orcas have exceptionally good eyesight underwater and above). Small ears behind their eyes, with no external flap.
Fins & Saddle Patch: Large, paddle-shaped flippers or pectoral fins used for steering and stopping (along with its flukes) and a distinct dorsal fin on its center-back (curved in females and immature males; straight, and up to 2 metres in mature males, the largest of all marine mammals). The male’s dorsal fin reaches its full height between 15-25 years.
Flukes: Each half of the tail is a fluke, curled at the ends; muscles, where the tail meets the body (caudal peduncle), move the flukes up and down; flukes can measure up to 2.75 metres across (9 feet).
Brain: Can weigh up to 7 kg (15 lb.).
Blubber: 7-10 cm (3-4 in.) of insulating blubber beneath the skin; stored fat provides energy when food is in short supply.
Breathing: Conscious breathers; underwater pulse—approx. 30 BPM, above the water—60 BPM.
Reproduction: Mating and calving take place year-round. Females are sexually mature in their early teens. Gestation lasts 18 months. One in six calves dies before their first birthday. The average SRKW birth rate is one healthy calf every 9-10 years.
Social Structure: Matriline (the most important social unit)—comprised of a female, her sons and daughters, and the offspring of her daughters; strong bonds; individuals depart from the group for only hours. Pod—related matrilines form a pod. Clan—pods sharing similar vocal dialects and a common but older maternal heritage. Community—regularly associating pods and clans are known as communities. Community members of the same sex and a similar age like to socialize. Females, calves, and juveniles are inclined to be most socially active. Social proclivity declines with age.
Behaviours: Instantaneous and Prolonged physical behaviours and maneuvers. Full Breach—reaching an exit speed of 40 km/hr before leaping, twisting in the air (completely clearing the ocean surface), and landing on their side or back. Spyhopping—rising vertically above the water surface to look around, showing their white bellies up to their pectoral fins. Pectoral or Tail Slaps—roll onto one side and repeatedly splash the water surface with their pectoral fin or just slap the surface with their flukes. Sleep—probably “sleep” by shutting down one hemisphere of their brain while the other half maintains breathing and awareness of surroundings.
Top Speed: When porpoising, orcas can briefly attain speeds of 28 knots (50 km/h, 32/mph).
Range: SRKW (influenced by seasonal Chinook salmon migrations )—Spring/Summer/Fall in the Salish Sea and offshore of Vancouver Island and Washington; Winter as far north as British Columbia’s Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands) and south to California’s San Francisco Bay Area. J-pod is observed in the region’s waters year-round. Bigg’s (Transient)—travel as far as southeast Alaska and California, but are spending an increased amount of time in British Columbia’s and Washington State’s inland waters due to prey abundance.
Primary Threats: SRKW—Lack of food (quantity and quality of Chinook salmon), environmental contaminants, and noise and vessel disturbance; Bigg’s—Toxins and spills and noise and vessel disturbance.
Learn more about orca behaviours, identification, population, research, and how to help the gravely endangered Southern Residents, and see spectacular photographs from recent encounters with SRKWs and Bigg’s at the Center for Whale Research’s WhaleResearch.com.
A young Southern Resident orca jumping for joy (CE0224).
