Orca Orkid 2019

Could I get some help figuring out which are the other Orcas. My memory is fuzzy but I believe Nakai was in here and maybe Orkid too.

@Westcoastperson I want to say it's Makani

@Moebelle the bottom white pattern looks like Orkid mor than Makani. Also from my memory there were only about three of four Orcas in the tank.

@Westcoastperson Looking back at the ID cards I'd say you're right. I can't really tell by the size of a single orca if there isn't another one to compare it to. Plus the angle makes her dorsal look really small. Plus plus Makani's eye patch is more pointed rather than rounded.

@Moebelle no I get it. It’s difficult to ID specific animals with only photos. Not being there makes it much harder to tell. Let alone how difficult differentiating Orcas can be.

@Westcoastperson It also doesn't help that here, you have 10 options! The Orlando pod is simple, the boys are put together, and Nalani looks like a clone of her mother.

@Moebelle yes it’s harder to ID but it makes watching them so much better. I enjoy talking to keepers about the animal dynamic, they know exactly how all of them get along, their favorite toys, and the of social structure. I had a group talk with the keepers scheduled the day Katsaka died (I thought they would cancel it) and they gave insights on the pod. They talked about how Orkid would become dominant and they talked about how much they loved Katsaka (which brought one of them to tears). It is really interesting to watch such a large pod interact with themselves and the keepers.

I believe this is Orkid, Makani has a more distinct saddle patch, and also more pointed eye patches. It's quite hard though!

Hello! This is not Orkid but Makani

@Jonathan Petersson On second thoughts, your correct. My orca ID'ing has of course gotten better and I can say now this does look more like Makani!