19 July 2007, Cetaceanlab reports:
We were with a couple of humpback whale trying to get an ID photo when Cara from KPL called to report one lone female orca. She said the whale was traveling close to the Campania shoreline heading north. We happened to be just north of that location so decided to just sit and wait with the hydrophone in the water. Not even twenty minutes had passed and there was a blow, followed by another. There were 2 females close to the boat, followed by another female and her 2 calves. We were just wondering if these were transients when the leading females did a dive, next thing they were leaping through the air around our boat in pursuit of a Dall’s porpoise. They made the kill very quickly; the two females only fed for a moment and then left the rest for the female and her calves. For the next 40 minutes we watched in wonder as this mother would actually hold onto this meal with her mouth and the two calves would follow her to feed. At one point they had all disappeared for over 5 minutes. Then the mother appeared right under our boat and surfaced just a few feet away, then again, this time with the older calf right at her side, totally taking a look at us in our boat. I can honestly say my throat was so tight I could not speak. I really was not sure how to interpret this encounter except to say the feeling within me to have a transient orca choose to come so close with her calf is to feel complete for that moment.