Into the Wild: Orcas
Is there an animal that has inspired me more than an orca? Probably not…
Ever since I was little, orcas have always been at the heart of my passion. They have inspired me to explore the wild, see the world, and spend countless hours staring into the ocean. In my search for these elusive whales I have seen grey, humpbacks, fins, and even the magnificent blue whale. Yet somehow the orcas always evaded me.
My first taste was on a SCUBA trip in California when we got word they were in the channel near our dive site. Luckily the captain of the boat took us to see them. They were fast and headed out so it was early a glimpse, but it was a glimpse that has stayed with me for over twenty years.
Every trip to Alaska I have been lucky to see orcas, and each has held a special memory. From listening to a First Alaskan sing her song to the orcas as they fished around our smaller boat, to a transient pod lazily swimming past the cruise ship. Every glimpse is a moment and a memory.
On my last day in Vancouver I spent the day whale watching, hoping to see anything but always praying to see orcas. The first trip was less than exciting, but that is the joy of wildlife- you have good and boring days. The second trip… the second trip is what dreams are made of.
While stuck on land between trips, I had seen a posting a few whales had been spotted close to Vancouver harbor. I spent the next two hours hoping and praying they would stay close. It was a long shot… they have the entire ocean to choose from, there’s no guarantee they’d still be close when I left on the next trip. Luckily the crew was aware they had been seen and we immediately started the search.
The first siting was two of the females, two crescent shaped black dorsal fins emerging then disappearing from the water. Then the large male appeared… it was like a dream come true. In the sparkly silver light of the setting sun, the tall straight dorsal fin of an adult male… Barakat.
A dream come true… Barakat’s arrival.
We watched them lazily swim through the harbor, our guide pointing out each member of the family. That’s one of the amazing parts of these whales… with their unique dorsal fins, saddle patches, and eye patches… researchers and whale enthusiasts have come to know them so well.
Eventually we turned to leave the pod, but were warned to keep watching… the warning was prudent as we noticed splashing in the glimmering glow of the sun. It was too bright to see any detail, but we were pretty sure someone was making waves… literally. Then the youngest came by, Barakat’s 5 year old sister. She swam past with one of her sisters, tail slapping all along the way. Then, we saw Barakat launch himself out of the waters, a full breach; the only hard part was that it was all the way across the harbor next to the large container ships… it was still magnificent to see his size compared to them.
Barakat breaching across the harbor
We were once again entranced as the entire pod became alive with activity. We would watch one whale, side breaching, tail slapping… and then another would start. We didn’t know where to look. Eventually the pod came together, still jumping and breaching and tail slapping. The entire boat was alive with excitement and energy watching it all. We really didn’t know where to look, but it was a problem I was happy to have.
We have yet to understand the language of whale, so who knows why they decided to become so energetic. I’d like to think they knew it was time to come together and rest for the evening and they were all happy to be together, but they could have also been laughing at the stupid humans excited to see some simple jumps.
Barakat side breaching
My first memory of orcas happened in the blink of an eye… my favorite memory is now they breaching and showing off just how magnificent they truly are…
