Our local news down here had photos of a pod of Orchas 19 miles outside the golden gate. The said they were from the Puget sound in search of salmon... don't they know we don't do salmon down here right now? Quite a haul =/- 1000 miles or so

They did mention there are two pods, one out side the gate, and one out side of Morro bay. I guess they Morro bay wales were snacking on seals. They said they were down here searching for salmon. They did mention they were from the sound. Maybe I can dig up more info..

I wonder if they were that pod of seven whales that were lost by local trackers who stated that it was possible that they had died of starvation.

I said to myself at the time, if they starved to death, they were too stupid to make it anyway. (tic) I have a hard time believing that a fish eating whale wouldn't substitute food sources if driven by starvation. But that wouldn't make much of a news story would it?

One of the intersting aspects of at least some predators is that they not only need to eat but they need the proper anount of calories. I have raised fryer chickens that essentially starved to death with full crops. Food quality wasn't good enough for their metabolism.

Some orca population is Alaska crashed because they started eating sea otters. No fat, not enough calories. In Puget Sound, the Chinook have more fat (calories) than pink or chum. They can only eat so many pounds per day, and if the calories aren't there they starve.

I went to the Orca sighting website and they say it is believed to be L pod... and I note there is no H in orca. I know these things eat salmon, but I think they are the coolest thing in the sound. I have now had my house on Whidbey for 4 years, and have seen the orcas 4 times from my deck. My neighbor has been there more than 30 years and saw a pod for the 4rd time last year. You all have lots of cool stuff up there and it should all be appreciated,

Here's the Times article

Interesting if these orcas are one and the same.....

Some pretty strong statements by professionals.

Link below in case the other one didn't work
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2008309284_orcas25m.html

4rd

Center for Whale Research has identified the whales in California as L Pod.

http://www.whaleresearch.com/thecenter/2009_encounters/2009_Sighting_001.html