LIFE AS A HUMAN

A few weeks ago, I joined Orca Spirit Adventures of Victoria, British Columbia for their 1pm whale watching tour, expertly piloted by Captain Brad and hosted by two lovely and knowledgeable naturalists, Hanna and Sheenah. The following is an account of my personal whale watching experience.

1:00 pm

As we congregate on the dock outside Coast Hotel in James Bay, Victoria, BC, Sheenah tells us about our vessel for today’s trip: The Pacific Explorer, a boat that can hold a maximum of 70 people. We have about 45 passengers waiting to board for our tour.

The Pacific Explorer has a heated indoor observation lounge and a large upper viewing deck with two seating areas, one under an awning, which offers some protection from the wind and sea spray, and the second seating area is the remainder of the deck, completely out in the open. The deck can hold 40 people, and the cabin’s capacity looks to be about the same.

The indoor lounge resembles a small, cozy restaurant with six large tables and horseshoe-shaped bench seats. The tables’ surface is a map of British Columbia, and there are some binoculars, books, and information sheets laid out. The lounge provides complimentary tea, coffee, or hot chocolate, as well as selling snacks (pop and chips) and beer. Indoors, there is also a washroom, which is pleasantly spacious with pretty stone tiling.

Today’s weather in Victoria is perfect for an afternoon of boating. The sun is shining bright in the clear blue skies; however, we are warned that regardless of the conditions on land, once you get out on the water, it is surprisingly chilly, dropping 5-10˚C. It is advisable to bring a sweater or jacket, if you plan to stay out on the deck.

Before we have even boarded, I’ve already learned a bunch of interesting and surprising facts from Hanna — that I must admit were so surprising that I double-checked them with Wikipedia when I got home! Number one for head scratchers was the revelation that the stars of today’s show, the orcas, are actually dolphins! Apparently, one of the defining characteristics of whales is that they have two blowholes, and orcas just have one, so despite the title of “killer whales”, they actually belong to the dolphin family. (Things that make you go “hmmmm…”)

1:10 pm

After the run down on the boat specs, we file aboard, and I choose a sheltered corner seat on the port side of the top deck. As we wait to depart, the boat rocks gently in the sea breeze, and we enjoy a view of the harbour and neighbouring houseboats. The sunlight gives the water’s surface an emerald glitter.

1:15 pm

We slowly pull back from the dock. There is excited chatter in a mix of languages, as the passengers talk amongst themselves in their native tongues. I pick up what I think are snippets of German and French.

We trail the zodiacs on our way out of the harbour towards the open waters, and Hanna starts the safety talk. She demonstrates how to put on the life jackets and points out the locations of the two life rafts up at the bow. She also assures us that the tracking of the whales is all done visually—they don’t tag the whales or use sonar. Today, the morning tour spotted some whales only two minutes out of the harbour, but currently they are much farther out, moving westbound toward the open waters, so this is our destination too.

1:30 pm

The path out of the harbour seems to lead straight to Mount Baker (in northern Washington). The water, now a deep blue, stretches toward the even deeper blue of the towering snow capped mountain, which seems to occupy the full length of the horizon. My dear friend, Wikipedia, tells me that Mount Baker is actually an active glaciated andesitic stratovolcano—in layman’s terms, a very tall, cone-shaped volcano covered in ice and snow.

Once we’re out of the harbour area, we pick up speed, and that surge of power in the boat brings with it a wave of exhilaration that is palpably shared by all of the passengers. At this point, my notes get scrawly and hard to read as a result of the combined speed and the blips of waves.

A tourist on the other (starboard) side of the deck suddenly calls out and points, which creates a frenzied swarm to that corner of the boat, as we are all so excited to spot something. It turns out to be a mass of seaweed. Our eyes sharpen, and we all scan the small waves and twinkles of sunlight in search of wildlife. With such eagerness, your mind plays tricks on you, and every wave crest and foamy pool appears to be a fin or the exhalation of some imagined creature. Soon after, though, there are more squeals of delight as some get a quick glimpse of a (real!) harbour porpoise. Hanna tells us they are shy creatures, so we don’t linger.

1:45 pm

Off in the distance, a white ribbon of fog thickly demarcates the horizon line. We pass an austere looking naval ship, whose steely grey exterior gives it an aesthetic of pure business, as we move closer and closer to the band of fog.

1:50 pm

We are now in close enough proximity to the fog that it has morphed from a fat, white line to a vertical haze. The sunlight is blocked out but makes the mist around us a luminous pale grey. The air gets smokier as we cross into the thick of it. We are currently passing the Race Rocks Lighthouse, but it is concealed somewhere off in the distance. We continue to bump along in the waves. The water now seems as grey as the sky.

2:10 pm

The sea is getting rougher. Though the waves don’t seem very big, it feels like riding a rollercoaster as the boat rises and drops with the swells. The kids onboard shriek and laugh gleefully at this unexpected thrill ride.

2:35 pm

We are still immersed in the fog and bumping along, though it has calmed down considerably. The grey waves and sway of the boat are getting hypnotic, and I am beginning to feel drowsy despite the non-drowsy organic Gravol tablets I took before we left. Hanna passes out blankets and jackets as the air is quite cool, and we hunker down.

3:00 pm

We have arrived! We are now upon the pod of orca we were searching for, and sure enough, the sightings begin immediately. Off the starboard bow, about 10 meters out, we see our first orca, a female, whose black and white body appears momentarily along the ocean’s surface. We are all in awe. Gasps are audible as everyone scurries to get a better vantage point. I half expect the passengers to burst into applause as our marine starlet makes her debut!

You can identify the females from males, as the females have smaller dorsal fins.

In a rapid succession of sightings over the next half hour, the 25 of us up on the top deck move as a collective to different corners of the boat as someone yells “THERE!!” and points emphatically at the disappearing profile of one of the beautiful creatures. There is an ensuing flurry of paparazzi-style clicking as photographers vie to capture the images.

The whales seem all the more otherworldly coming from the teal-black water through the mist.

At one point, two whales, a mother and son, crest the water in synchronization, twin shiny black and white bodies arc along the surface in unison, a split-second water ballet.

An interesting fact I learned is that killer whales have complex matrilineal social structures within their societies, consisting of a matriarch and her descendants. The resident orcas are the only known mammals to live with their mothers throughout their entire lives.

Hanna tells us that this family is known as the “J pod,” composed of about 40 individuals, the oldest of which is a 99 year old female!

Orcas are toothed whales that eat mostly fish. These Pacific resident whales consume almost exclusively salmon. Because of their size, the orcas can consume approximately 500 lbs (227 kg) each day, which means they are frequently feeding throughout the day.

I expected the whales to pop head-first into view, but instead they seem to flash horizontally across your field of view. I find it’s easier to catch sight of them when you don’t let your eyes focus on one spot, but instead stay alert to motion. The whales come back up for another breath roughly every 30 seconds, so if you keep your gaze in the general vicinity that you last saw the mammal, there’s a good chance you’ll see it again—though like anything in nature, they’re not always predictable.

3:30 pm

Satisfied with our many whale sightings, we are now turning around to head back. The return trip is much smoother as we are now travelling with the waves instead of against them. We are still enshrouded in the misty fog. A little ways off, I can see a couple of pelagic birds plunging head first into the water, but they are too far away (and my avian knowledge is too limited!) to identify what they are.

A peaceful calm settles over the passengers now. Many heads are bent over camera displays, reviewing the day’s photos. Some people even curl up on the benches to nap. Across from me, a small boy sleeps contentedly, wrapped in a blanket, in his father’s arms.

4:00 pm

In the lull of activity, I take the opportunity to chat with Hanna. She has the kind of laid back personality that you might expect of someone who spends her summer days out on the water, but she is also well-educated, articulate, and passionate about marine biology and environmental conservation. Her hope is that seeing the animals in their natural habitat will encourage people to give some thought and care to how we treat the water, the whales’ home—that maybe environmental concerns will become more “real” for people when they experience the marine creatures first hand.

4:45 pm

We slowly emerge from the fog, returning to the summer afternoon we left behind, eventually docking back in the sunny Victoria harbour. I am struck by how different the weather conditions are in different areas and also by the changing colours of the sea. It perhaps speaks to the ocean’s beauty as well as to its peril that it acts as a mirror to that which surrounds it.

If You Go…

Orca Spirit Adventures of Victoria, British Columbia

Photo Credits

All photos courtesy of Orca Spirit Adventures of Victoria, British Columbia