Expecting No Fort Worth Orca Baby Boom Anytime Soon

I saw that which you see here this morning in the Seattle Times online.

This particular instance of something I see in a west coast online news source, which I would not expect to see in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, does not quite fit the usual theme where I see something happening on the west coast, or elsewhere, that is of the sort of thing that could be happening in Fort Worth if the town were a bit more, well, lively and progressive.

But, there is absolutely nothing Fort Worth could possibly do to see the town hosting an Orca pod with baby Orcas.

Just like a west coast town, like Seattle, is not likely to have an alligator show up at popular inner tubing venues, while, in Fort Worth, such does happen.

I think I have mentioned before an encounter with an Orca pod.

Way back in the last century.

Way back then it was more common to call these gentle animals Killer Whales than Orcas.

My mom and dad and I were out in the San Juan Islands, if I remember right, fishing off Orcas Island, appropriately, either gigging for cod or trolling for salmon. I don't remember which. I do remember it was a beautiful day, clear blue sky, late in the afternoon, Mount Baker hovering to the east, Mount Rainier visible way to the south.

Suddenly we started seeing large black forms gliding through the water, some sort of arching out of the water. As the black forms got closer we realized it was a pod of Killer Whales. My mom got a big nervous, dad killed the engine. We sat there as the big 'fish' got closer and closer. Suddenly we were surrounded as the pod passed on both sides of the boat.

At one point one of the Orcas sort of seemed to stop to look us over, almost looking like he was smiling at us, sort of like how a dolphin does. Amongst the pod was a baby Orca.

This incident pre-dated the era of never being without an image recording device. This incident remains the number one thing I have experienced of which I regret I was not able to photograph. Let alone take video.

I wonder what is up with the Puget Sound Orca pods having so many babies? Is the warmer water causing the whales to be more frisky? Or are the Orca pods just doing well due to the water being cleaner and the humans being nice to them, no longer terrorizing them with threat of capture and exile to Sea World?

It has been decades since the threat of capture and exile to Sea World was ended. I suspect the Orca pods now have a sense that they have become Wildlife Superstars of the Great Pacific Northwest. And thus happily adding to the size of their families, I mean, pods.

Orcas are extremely intelligent mammals. Probably smarter than some humans I know. I know for 100% certainty there are no Orca racists, or Orca racist collaborators. I wish I could say the same about the humans with whom I come in contact.....

No Danger Of Orca Encounters While Rockin' The Trinity River In Fort Worth

No, what you are looking at here is not some sort of artist's rendering of what the Trinity River Central City Uptown Gator Island Vision Boondoggle's lake, mountain and flying fish may look like upon completion on a date far in the future.

No, every thing you see here is natural, except for those Blue Angel jets.

Natural.

Not the product of a pseudo public works project gone sideways and awry.

I saw what you see above on Facebook, via Kathy Schaefer Bressler, with a caption of "Only in Seattle".

Which would make that mountain the one known in Washington as The Mountain, but also known as Mount Rainier.

That big flying fish is what is known as an Orca.

Formerly known as a Killer Whale.

Calling this beautiful mammal a Killer Whale became politically incorrect way back in the 1960s, when it became widely realized that these fellow mammals were not killers of a danger to humans sort.

However, the salmon world might still refer to the Orca population as Killer Whales.

During that revolutionary decade of the 1960s, I think the guy's name was Ted Griffin, if I remember correctly, he made the majority of the people of Washington aware of the Orca pods for the first time, due to the bizarre fact that this man had hunts, in order to trap Orcas, to sell them to aquariums and places like Sea World.

Which is why the world knows the names Namu and Shamu.

Trapped Killer Whales were kept penned in Elliott Bay, in Seattle, awaiting extradition to the location of whoever purchased one of these mammals who should never have been for sale.

As you might imagine, this did  not go over well in the Pacific Northwest, ahead of the times even then, environmental protection issues wise, just as the Pacific Northwest is ahead of the times, in multiple ways, in 2015.

It was made illegal to hunt Orcas. And the Orca pods were protected in multiple ways. Such as the various pods being tracked, with a record kept of the number in the pod and baby Orcas being added. Or Orcas gone missing.

In all my years in the Puget Sound zone I had only one Orca pod encounter.

I was with my mom and dad, somewhere in the San Juan Islands. We were jigging for cod.

Suddenly, in the distance, an Orca jumped out of the water, such as you see above. Then another. Then many others. They were coming towards us. We were not moving. Soon there were dozens of Orcas around us. Some were small, some big.

I remember we did not feel any sense of being in danger. More a feeling of being in awe. Some of the Orcas slowed as they neared our boat, almost as if stopping to say hello.

Orcas are sort of like dolphins, in that up close they look as if they are smiling at you.

This Orca encounter pre-dated the modern era of always having event recording devices on ones person, in the form of a digital camera, phone or video camera. We had no camera on board. Not even of the antique using film sort.

So, that wonderful once in a lifetime experience of being surrounded by an Orca pod is recorded only in my memory, a location where I can still enjoy seeing it, but can not share, visually....

Saving Orca Killer Whales, Babies & Dish, Texas

I think I've mentioned that I read my old hometown newspaper, the Skagit Valley Herald, aka Go Skagit, online in the morning. I think I've also made mention of Washington Casinos previously.

This morning one of the headlines that caught my eye was "New Baby Orca Spotted in Puget Sound." There was an ad that the text wrapped around at the top of the story.

When I clicked on the link I was hoping to see a picture of the Baby Orca. When the page opened I instantly saw an Orca and just as instantly knew it was the Orca that swims in front of the Tulalip Resort Casino.

If I remember right there are 4 Killer Whale Pods in Puget Sound. The pods are tracked and the individual Orcas are assigned a number. The new baby was born into the L Pod. It's number is L-133. L-133 is the 4th Puget Sound Baby Orca spotted this year.

There are currently only 86 Orcas in Puget Sound, including the newborn.

L-133's mom is believed to be a 14 year old named Calypso. I don't know why Calypso gets a name instead of a number. L-133 would be Calypso's first baby. The baby daddy is unknown. First born Orcas do not have a good survival rate. Most die before their first birthday. A mom offloads a lot of toxic chemicals to her first born, both while in the womb and via milk.

A friend of mine, up in Washington, lives on Puget Sound, well, in a house facing Puget Sound, in Port Orchard. She was recently enjoying the view when an Orca Pod swam by. She was too caught up in enjoying the spectacle to run and get a camera.

My only encounter with an Orca Pod was also camera-free. I was out in the San Juan Islands in the northern part of Puget Sound, with my mom and dad. Suddenly Orcas came into view. We were dead in the water, fishing for cod. The Orcas were being very playful. There were 2 babies. The Orcas did not seem to care at all that we were there. They were on all sides of us. A couple of the Killer Whales got as close as 10 feet. It was like they wanted a closer look.

My Orca encounter occured a long long time ago, but I remember it vividly, as if it happened yesterday.

To landlubbing Texans, who would have no reason to know, Killer Whales do not have such a lethal name due to being a danger to humans. I believe the Killer Whale name came about due to how lethal Orcas are to the fish they like to eat, like salmon.

It is hard to believe now, but back in the 1960s the Killer Whales were a bit mysterious, not frequently seen. It was not known, for sure, how many were in Puget Sound. Then this guy, I forget his name now, started trapping Killer Whales and selling them to places like Sea World. You've probably heard of Namu and Shamu. They were kidnapped from Puget Sound.

It did not take long for the Washington public to put a stop to Orca hunting. There was a lot of outrage. It was from that point on that a lot better understanding of the Puget Sound's Orcas came to be. They have been listed as endangered since 2005. It has been a crime for quite some time now to do absolutely anything harmful to an Orca.

I wish Texas had more of an ethic where the public gets mad and makes clear that something has to stop. Like the environmental crimes that have occurred and continue to occur in and around Dish, Texas. The out of control, basically unregulated Barnett Shale gas drillers, using eminent domain to ruin Dish native's lives and livelihoods. Killing farm animals and trees. Polluting the air with noise and chemicals.

Is the State of Texas concerned about the welfare of the citizens of Dish? Is the Denton County government concerned? Do the people of Texas and Denton County care, other than those who live in Dish?

I can tell you with almost 100% certainity that if something as outragous as what is happening in Dish was happening in Washington. There would be demands coming from all sorts of directions to put a stop to it. There would be large protests. There would likely be sabatoge. There would be lawsuits. The media would turn a bright light on the evil wrong-doing. Wrong would be made right.

I've been here for 11 years now and I'm still no closer to understanding why Dish type deals happen in Texas with so little consequence and no one thrown in jail.