Orcas!!

We spent some time in our boat and found a pod of orcas just outside of Auke Bay near the southern tip of Shelter Island.  There appeared to be between seven and eight orcas in the pod.  They were split up into three groups.  Two of the groups eventually came together and headed south (I believe there were six orcas in this group including two calves.  One still had a peachy coloring to it.)  The third group (two orcas) headed north.  Judging from the seagull activity, I believe the group of six had made a kill before they started heading south toward the west side of Douglas Island.  We headed north and found the third group (with two orcas) in Favorite Channel near Shelter Island.  I was able to identify one of them as T63, aka Chainsaw (his name in Washington and British Columbia) or Zorro (his name here in Alaska).  I have hoped that one day I would get to see T63.  It was a real treat to see him.  We left the area and continued north.  Approximately one hour later as we were returning to Auke Bay, we spotted T63 and his mom, T65 in Favorite Channel near Halibut Cove by Shelter Island hunting a sea lion.  Although we have witnessed orcas hunting, this was the first time we were able to see what they were hunting.  The sea lion spent a fair amount of time on the surface breathing and appeared to be stunned or injured.  However, the orcas abandoned the hunt and left the area.  The sea lion eventually swam away.  I wish I knew why they abandoned the hunt.  We were a bit shocked by it, as it seemed like a done deal. 

These orcas have been identified as the T064s along with T035.  T063, aka Chainsaw was with his mother T065.  
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I took many photos, and have more to upload as soon as I get around to editing them.