| My Adopted Orca Whale Adopted from: The Whale Museum In Friday Harbor, WA |
| L-22: Spirit Sex: Female Year of Birth: 1970 (est.) Mother: Olympia Offspring: 2 Sons Siblings: 1 Younger Brother |
| A Profile of: Spirit Spirit was named in 1983 as part of a contest in Victoria, B.C. to give names to all the whales in L pod. This contest was part of a campaign to stop a Canadian permit which would have allowed capture of orcas for public display. Partly as a result of this effort, these whales are now protected from further captures in both the U.S. and Canada. Spirit has a nick midway down her relatively large dorsal fin that makes her easier to identify. She has a closed saddle patch on both her right and left sides. Spirit is often seen traveling not only with her two kids, but also with her mom Olympia and her son (Spirits younger brother) Onyx. All of Olympia's subgroup are frequently seen with Alexis (L-12) and Mystery. Spirit has two sons Skanna and Solstice. Skanna was born in 1989 and is now beginning to "sprout," which means that his dorsal fin is beginning to grow taller than it is wide. As his fin continues to grow it will acquire a "wobble" that is very apparent when he breaks the water's surface. When he is full grown, around the age of 20 or 21, his dorsal fin may be as tall as 5 or 6 feet. Spirit's second son, Solstice, was born in 1992, and in the next few years he may begin to "sprout" like his older brother. Spirit has become a favorite among researchers. You can imagine that with two young boys she has to be a very tolerant mother. Not only is she tolerant, but on many occasions she joins her two sons while they are roughhousing! One one occasion Spirit and Solstice were chasing a fish off the westside of San Juan Island. Spirit was first seen with the fish in her mouth. After a bit more chasing, Solstice was seen with a part of the fish, but he did not seem too interested in eating the fish. Instead he seemed to bring the remains of the fish to a nearby boat to show off what his mother had caught for him! L-Pod, along with K-Pod, returning to the San Juan Island area on May 20, 2001. They were around the islands a bit more usual this summer as the salmon runs going up to the Fraser River in British Columbia were great this year. By feeding on all of this nice fatty salmon, hopefully all the whales got a good chance to put on a hefty blubber layer. This will help sustain them through the harsher winter months when their food sources are undoubtedly harder to find! |
| Spirit: |
| If anyone knows where I can find some pictures of Spirit.... I would be very grateful! |