What time of day do the whales come by?
A.: Please remember that Orcas are wild animals and they have travel and feeding patterns that we humans are still studying. Based on scientific observations there is a ‘greater likelihood’ that you will see Orcinus Orca here as the tide is coming in. The incoming tide pushes fish against the island shelf (which drops 400′-600′ a 1/4 mile offshore). This creates a large buffet table for them and they work their way up the shelf while feeding. This is also why we tend to see them at approximately the same distance from shore day-in, day-out. Usually they’ll be around from four hours before high tide up until high tide. Occasionally they will travel back south with the ebb, but tend to be moving fast and spread over a greater distance. We are frequently visited by three resident pods of orcas (J pod = 19 whales, K = 20something, L = 50something). Sometimes the pods will intermingle, giving a rare opportunity to observe a ‘super pod’. Occasionally, there may be distant sightings of mammal
