Doublestuf aka J34 cruising at sunset
This evening blew my mind!! nice little whale watching cruise around Vancouver Island last year in September. Then I ran into a few members of J pod, which belong to the Southern Resident Orca population, which is currently at 76 individuals. This population of orca are salmon eating orca - primarily Chinook salmon. Due to their low numbers they are considered to be endangered in both Canadian and US waters.
The colours of the sunset were incredible as myself and some of my guests sat back and enjoyed a pure moment with this young male orca & his mum, whom is always close by.
the heartbreaking thing about this photo is the whale himself, a young male whose identity is J34 aka Doublestuf was found dead, washed up on a beach north of Vancouver a few days later. From the necropsy it appeared the he died from blunt force trauma. At the end of the day he was only just coming into his prime and was by far one of my favourite orca of all time to interact with.
You will be forever missed, buddy
For more of my photos and adventure stories check out my Instagram feed: https://www.instagram.com/thomas_mitchell2912/
Wow, crazy story How were you able to identify the whale in this photo matched the tag of that which was found? It makes it extra sad knowing it was him!
poor whale.
One of my greatest desires is to see a whale so close, you're very lucky :) it's sad that he was found dead :( nice picture and thanks for sharing
very nice sunset
So sorry to hear this beautiful creature is not alive anymore :( but blunt force trauma? What could that be? Did he get hit by a boat or something? I love all animals but cetaceans have a special place in my heart... particularly the Humpbacks, dolphins and orcas...Awesome shot btw, the top spot on the trending page in the goldenhour category is well-deserved ;)
What a beautiful tribute to such a magnificent creature! The colors in this photo are striking, especially in the water. Very nice, thank you for sharing.
nice work boss
Damn, thats tragic.
Wooow its very beautiful and amazing keep it up you are really aproffesional thanks for sharing
Nice shoot picture and good post boy
I really like by your post