Sea Wolves

 

Killer whales are found in every ocean around the world. They even have been spotted off the coasts of Hawaii and Florida, though they prefer colder water. I have spent time with them in Alaska, off the coast of British Columbia and off California near Monterey. I watched this juvenile and his pod kill two sea lions on consecutive days. The orcas share the spoils. The juvenile has a bit of meat in its mouth.

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An orca fishes off the coast of Vancouver Island in Canada's British Columbia. This resident pod shares the water with transient orcas that hunt sea lions. Researchers say the fish-eating orcas are more gregarious and spend a lot more time making noise and playing at the surface. These orcas were splashing the water with their tails and having fun.

An enormous male orca patrols the waters off Kenai Fjords National Park in Alaska. That dorsal fin is as tall as I am.

An orca "spy hops," raising itself out of the water with its tail to get a good look around at the surface.

An orca's fluke reminds you that these are just big dolphins. This big male was splashing the water.

A large pod of killer whales hunts the waters off the Chiswell Islands in Alaska.

We spied orcas from our float plane while crossing the Cook Inlet on our way back to Homer, Alaska, after spending the day looking for bears in Katmai National Park. 

An enormous orca surges forward to kill a stricken sea lion off Monterey. We saw two successful hunts. During one hunt, a panicked sea lion tried to leap more than 10 feet out of the water to reach the safety of the deck of our whale-watch boat. But it was too high. The sea lion spent the next 30 minutes hugging the bottom of the boat until the orcas left. Whew! Close call.

Sea lions return to their favorite basking rocks after a fishing trip in Monterey Bay.

Sea lions are preferred prey of killer whales. But whales also hunt gray whales, humpback whales and even sea otters.

An orca does a barrel roll while playing with its pod in the Salish Sea off Vancouver Island.

The big orca also created cannonball splashes with its massive tail. It was fun watching them have so much fun.