I just had my dream vacation. DH and I
went to Victoria, BC where we spent hours on a boat witnessing the majestic,
breathtaking beauty of Orcas in the wild. I had dreamed of that moment for
years and it was with tears in my eyes that I saw them swim towards us, so free
and happy, jumping out and talking to each other, free to roam the hundreds of
miles a day they cover when they are free.
The day before I could see the whale
watching tour arriving every few hours and everyone getting off the boat had a
smile in their face, I asked several groups if they saw Orcas and they said “we
saw a lot of humpback whales and seals” and they seemed so happy. I wanted to
see humpbacks too, but the decision to go to Victoria was based on the fact
that they have a resident pod, the J pod. The J pod is part of a bigger clan of
the Southern resident killer whales in the area and includes the K and L pods.
The evening before our tour I sat there,
looking at the sun setting (at 9:30 pm) and begged the Gods of Whales, Neptune,
San Francis of Assisi (patron Saint of animals), and all the powers that be to
let me see some Orcas. I had flown almost 3,500 miles (even with my flying phobia)
to be able to see them.
We had been warned that the rough
weather the last couple of days had the Orcas doing Orca things in hiding and
they had not seen one yet. I closed my eyes and just begged the universe for
this. We were on the boat for 45 minutes, looking for them when the captain
suddenly shuts the engine and says “They are coming towards us, up ahead”.
Sure enough, there they were. I could
feel all the hair in my body standing on end (the cold might have something to
do with that as well), there is no way to describe the joy in my heart when I saw
that tall, shiny black fin cut through the water towards us. Unimpeded by
walls, or tanks, just open and cold waters. When one jumped in the air and
landed on its side I felt swamped with love and respect for them, so amazingly
smart, so beautiful and close to each other.
I have felt a fascination for Orcas
since I saw the movie “Orca, the killer whale” when I was little. The male Orca
in the movie wants revenge for the murder of his baby whale who got cut out of
his mother by the boat propeller or some such nonsense. The male Orca lost his baby and his mate who
died from the injuries. He pushes his dead mate to the beach and I remember so
clearly the sense of grief from the animal in the movie.
Ever since then, even though the whale
is supposed to be the bad guy in the horror movie, I have been in love with
them. While Seaworld and other parks were available to me, the idea of seeing
them in a pool was utterly repellant. So
my dream of watching them in the wild was born.
I could feel my husband looking at the
goofy awed looked in my face and waiting for me to burst into tears. It was a
close call folks, I was one fin away from ugly crying and let me tell you,
there is nothing like wanting to cry from seeing something beautiful, crying
from seeing a dream realized, crying because you are surrounded by nature’s
almighty power.
At the end of the trip, a group of whale
approached us and one flipped belly up, the startling white of its belly
shinning so brightly through the water and belly up, as if asking for a petting
swam beneath our boat and away.
Among the J pod that we saw is J-2 or “Granny”
purported to have been born in 1911, Granny is the oldest Orca in the entire
planet. I saw the oldest mother fucking Orca in the world. She is 105 years old
and the bad boss of her matriarchal community. We also saw J-22 (Oreo), J-27 (Blackberry),
J-34 (Double stuff), J-38 (Cookie). Obviously the scientist have a thing with
pastries.
I went back home to Florida, full of
happy thoughts about the world. Happy that everyone we had encountered in our
trip had such love for nature and our planet and were taking so many steps to
protect it and the beautiful animals that live in it.
I saw the headline on Sunday about the
club in Orlando and I refused to open it. I just wanted to bask a little longer
on the happiness that my dream realized had brought. I just wanted to think
about whales and their society and how they live together in harmony as a
family, helping one another, communicating, talking, touching and loving. I
wanted to think of Granny, living in the Victoria waters with her children,
grandchildren and great grandchildren, eating 400 lbs. of Chinook salmon a day,
eating some seals and jumping out of the water to get rid of the annoying kelp
that tangles on their tails. I wanted to think of that and nothing else.
If you want to know more:
3 comments:
Aww, I love whales. I grew up near the Monterey Bay, and we used to have all kinds play in that area. They're really just fucking magical creatures, and the orcas are something special. I'm glad you got to experience them firsthand. :)
If you want a really goofy absurd piece of fiction about whales, you should check out Christopher Moore's "Fluke: Or, I Know Why the Winged Whale Sings".
Jess,
You summarized it perfectly. They are fucking magical. I am never going to forget that moment when I first saw them.
Thanks for the book recommendation! I will look for it at the library. Also, I was in your home state of California before making my way to Victoria. Ate my way through San Francisco. Loved every moment of it!
Hey there! My name is Jaya Saxena and I'm writing a piece for the Daily Dot about how undocumented immigrants do/do not talk about their immigration status online. I'd love to interview you about your blog and experiences. Please email me at jsaxena@dailydot.com if you're interested!
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