THURSDAY, AUGUST 13, 2009 ELUSIVE MINKE WHALE & T-14 TRANSIENT (MAMMAL-EATING) KILLER WHALE

THURSDAY, AUGUST 13, 2009 ELUSIVE MINKE WHALE & T-14 TRANSIENT (MAMMAL-EATING) KILLER WHALE

In many guides to Marine Mammals of the Pacific Northwest you will read about "an exceptionally lucky traveler will see a Minke Whale, usually very elusive and difficult to view because of their quickness and variable diving patterns". Well, today's passengers on Five Star Whale Watching's "Supercat" were not only treated to some wonderful views of a Minke, but they also saw one of the very top predators in the Ocean: A Transient (Mammal-Eating) Killer Whale (Orcinus Orca) weighing close to 8 tonnes and almost 9m (29 feet) long, with a 2m (6.5 ft) tall dorsal fin. He has been given the identifer "T-14" and the nickname "Pender".