The realm of the Pacific northwest : my encounters with Wild Orcas
I’ve been in love with killer whales for as long as I can remember. Killer whales (Orcinus orca), are considered the wildlife spectacle of the Pacific Northwest, the fastest mammal in the seas, and the most intelligent predator on earth. When you are out with wild orcas you sense what no show can ever capture - their free spirit and love for the open ocean and the majesty of these charismatic beings.
In June of 2007, when I was 20, dreaming of observing these magnificent whales in the wild, I signed up for an ocean kayaking expedition along Canada’s Pacific coast. The area is an archipelago of untamed beauty. The geography, climate and wildlife create a unique biosphere on the north American continent with its rocky coastline, cut by long deep fjords surrounded by beautiful emerald green coniferous forests. I spent days weaving through the tiny islets of the Broughton Archipelago and camped on different desolate islands near the white-shell middens of some of the continent’s first human inhabitants by night.
I have to admit that on that first adventure off Vancouver Island I did not see any orcas at all, but the knowledge I gained and the memories of the natural beauty of the area are things that will bring happiness to me for the rest of my life. I did witness something very spectacular, so I’m not complaining.
One sleepless night I headed out into the darkness of the night. As my eyes adjusted, the beauty unveiled. A blanket of thousands of stars mirrored the ocean’s surface calmly as it sloshed against the pier. I peered into the water and saw a bright blue glow from somewhere beneath the surface of the water. There was phosphorescent life below the surface of the ocean that lit up at night. The quiet glow of bioluminescence which shines silently in the darkness was like twinkling stars suspended in the ocean and was extremely special. They resemble fireflies flitting through the air but are actually algae in the water. The algae emit a glow whenever they are jostled. This is normally caused by the movement of the tides. Awestruck by such beauty, the highlight of that trip was the magnificent illumination by one of our planet’s most dazzling phenomena- Bioluminescence.
I still needed to see the orcas in the wild. In July 2016, I headed to Cowichan Bay, a unique seaside village on Vancouver Island on the coast of the Salish Sea. The Salish sea is one of the most diverse marine ecosystems in the world. Apart from the orcas, it also home to the grey, humpback, minke and fin whales, sea lions, bald eagles, harbor seals, Dalls and harbor porpoises, black, grizzly and the infamous sub species of the Black bear called the Kermode bears (also known as the spirit bears), as well as many other marine birds, fish and crustaceans.
I understood that seeing Orcas in the wild meant watching them, photographing them and dealing with a creature entirely on its own terms, in its environment. I would be facing all the hazards that accompanied kayaking the northwest coast - unpredictable weather, strong winds, and tides. I would sometimes be less than as a foot away.
I was very anxious yet eager to go out and see these whales. I had been anticipating this moment most of my life. I jumped into my dry survival suit, headed out in a Zodiac Hurricane. I worried whether I would even see them, but my instincts told me I would.
About twenty minutes into our trip, the captain started to slow down, I was listening and looking for the whales. My eyes were panning back and forth across the surface of the water to the horizon for the misty plume of a whale blow, a swoosh, or a two meter tall dorsal fin gliding through the water. One would think that one would be able to see these large whales from a distance. Somewhere out there right now, were these magnificent creatures swimming around the place they call home.
Out of nowhere the water broke, tall dorsal fins came slicing out of the water with great swooshes, so graceful, beautiful and magnificent! Immediately my dreams were fulfilled, but I should say that the real experience was a thousand times better than I had imagined. They were less than a foot away, I did not even think about picking up my camera. I was overwhelmed with the beauty of them. There were seven orcas in total gliding through the water, straight at our boat. A big male came about a foot away, I could have touched him. He took a deep breath and went under our boat followed by the five others. My heart was in my mouth. I looked over into the water as I could see their beautiful black and white bodies under the surface of the water right under the boat and off towards the horizon. We followed them for a while in the boat.
By that time I was ready to pick up my camera and start photographing the whales. There were two bulls, four cows and one calf. They looked so happy and fit in so beautifully in the wild in their habitat. In the marine park they were always confined in pools that were tiny for them. Here, the sea stretched to the horizon and the orcas were magnificent, free and the lords of all the saw.
All of a sudden the skies transformed to an angry palette of dark greys and whites, white caps and foam appeared out of nowhere, the wind whistled in my ears, the biting cold and the sudden smooth rise of about 4 feet in the air to the crashing down as the boat was getting tossed around these huge waves. Photographing the whales in general is not an easy task, and it is even worse moving in a storm at sea. I was getting tossed around the zodiac. One really high wave almost threw me into the ranging sea. The captain said we had to rush back as we were getting pulled into the heart of a storm.
We headed off at just the right time. Speeding over the tops of the waves, flying off the top of the waves into the air and back down, we sped off to the closest area where we could see blue sky. I was thankful that we were able to spend that time with the orcas but I wanted to see them again.
Orcas are the largest members of the Delphinidae family. They are the most widely distributed of all cetacean species, yet they still remain a mystery. Mature males can grow up to a whopping six to eight metres long and weigh 5400 kilograms. They live in oceans ranging from Antarctic all the way down to the Arctic.
The basic social unit of killer whales is a family led by a senior female matriarch and composed of her offspring and the offspring of the females of the second generation. This group is called a pod. The decision-making matriarch has memorized the family’s survival manual. She maintains knowledge of the region, the routes, island passes, rivers with salmon during the spawning season, etc.
The pods have very sophisticated techniques such as echolocation which allows better navigation and makes hunting more efficient. Sounds travel through the water and bounce back from fish or any other obstacles. The vibrations return to the orca with valuable information giving them accurate details like the size of the victim, their proximity, the depth of the water and the possible presence of other predators around on the prey..
Orcas communicate via whistles, discrete calls, clicks, low frequency pops, pulsed calls low frequency pops and jaw claps. Vision does not penetrate most surfaces, but sound does. Whale sounds usually don’t make the transition from water to air. The frequency of an Orca whistle ranges from about 0.5 to 40 kHz, peaking at 6 to 12 kHz.
I released a hydrophone into the water and lunged for the headphones. Silent at first, then it was loud and clear, a series of intense clicks and squeaks forming this complex language of orcas communicating with each other - It was magical.
The whales pulled me half way around the world. The orcas, the humpback whales, otters, starfish, salmon, the phenomenon of bioluminescence are just some of the beautiful life in our oceans. More than 90 per cent of the deep-sea depths remain unexplored, so we must carefully and consciously conserve marine ecosystems to protect species we have yet to discover. I hope I do not have to watch them die out. I hope to still be making my pilgrimages to visit them throughout my lifetime. The year 2016 stands out in my memory, I feel extremely fortunate to have seen these beautiful animals in the wild. I hope that sharing these moments will help others feel inspired to protect the ocean environment for generations to come.
Bio : Kartiki Gonsalves is a documentary filmmaker, Sony Alpha Artisan, Swarovski Nature Explorer 2021 and photojournalist. Having dedicated her life to documenting the beauty of our natural world & capturing the diversity of different cultures and tribes across the world to better understand the profound connection that we share with it to build greater awareness and responsibility with the goal to conserve what we have. She wants to discuss and bring awareness to the challenges we face, but also focus on solutions with her projects and show success stories where conservation is working to give hope.
