Heading west from Victoria to the east end of Juan de Fuca Strait we encountered L-pod the largest of the Resident Orca pods. We were fortunate enough to see this small Orca calf traveling with its mother. Orca calves must stay very close to their mothers as the calf not only needs to be fed approximately every 15 minutes but the calf reduces the energy it needs to swim by drafting its mother. In the photo you can see that the calf is surfacing into the disturbed water that its mother has just created. That means that the calf does not have to spend energy to break the surface tension of the water each time it surfaces to breath.