Aided by social media, Whidbey wildlife photographer Sarah Geist tracked down a pod of orcas and captured dazzling images of the marine mammals breaching near the Naval Exchange Main and Deception Pass on Wednesday.

“So great that my family, and so many sailors and their families got to see them,” she said in the post.

Geist had tracked the pod after seeing a disclaimer on social media that the orcas were in Penn Cove. She followed the orcas as they hugged the shore, heading north to the Naval Air Station Sea Plane Base Boat Ramp North to watch the orcas as they circled Crescent Harbor.

A while later, fighting the current, the orcas made it to Canoe Pass, the lower bridge that connects to Deception Pass on North Whidbey, Geist said. Petrified of heights, Geist had to force herself onto the bridge to witness the orcas swimming through. Onlookers cheered excitedly, Geist recalled, a striking difference to the silent breaching Biggs, also known as transient orcas.

The adrenaline rush was worth the reward, as Geist captured not only the photos, but the hearts of many online, who were astonished by her clear images. With her Canon R5 Mii, her Canon RF 100-500 millimeter zoom lens and skilled eye, Geist depicted the matriarchal pod majestically coming up for air.

The pod included great-grandmother, T36 Flapjack, and relatives T36B Tattertip, T36B1 Bhotia, T36B2 Greenfelder, T36B4 Auk, the only male of the group and T36B1A Maple, who still had her newborn orange-tinted blubber.

“The daughters will usually break off when they start having children, so the point that Tattertip is traveling with Flapjack is pretty fun,” Geist marveled.

While watching the pod, Geist said she was filled with both excitement and gratitude. She is thankful that she can see orcas on a regular basis as a Whidbey resident and share that joy with others.

“It’s one of the reasons why I still do this. I want people to realize that there’s so much here,” she said.

On Thursday, the Orca Network posted on Facebook a secondhand report of orcas spotted southbound in Admiralty Inlet, approaching Mutiny Bay.

The network reminded viewers to give whales space and to “be whale wise.”

All federal and local U.S. laws and guidelines for vessels can be found on bewhalewise.org.

Purchase Geist’s wildlife photos at sarahgeist.smugmug.com.

Photo by Sarah Geist

Photo by Sarah Geist

Photo by Sarah Geist

(Photo by Sarah Geist) Orcas have a thick layer of orange blubber for their first year of life. Geist explained that is how she was able to recognize T36B1A Maple.