Orcas in the Front Yard
When nature gets up close and personal!
My vegetable garden is 10 meters from the ocean. I have a bench at the top of a 20-foot cliff above deep water. Last summer I took a break from my gardening and was sitting on my bench when these two came by to wish me a good day:
Some days nature is so incredibly beautiful that there are no words to communicate the feeling!
As a bit of backstory, I live on the most southerly of the Canadian Gulf Islands, facing Plumper Sound. Local companies make a business out of taking people out to see the pods of orcas that live in the area. They offer many options from bare-bones open speedboats to high-end cruisers complete with a bar and restaurant. The poor orcas have to put up with having these noisy boats around most of the daylight hours. Technically the boats are required to keep at least 200 meters away and most of the time they do, however, they sometimes they get excited and stray too close.
How would you like to have crowds of people following you around, watching your every move, never leaving you in peace to enjoy the day?
When the weather is nice, and especially in the summer, there are usually many boats full of tourists hovering around the orcas. This was one of those days.
I noticed that there were a number of whale-watching boats on the other side of the Sound, about two kilometers across from where I was. I was keeping watch to see if I could see the orcas across the sound when I heard a whale catching a breath to my left. I looked and saw these two passing by!
I’m guessing they had figured out where the tour boats were and decided to get away on their own. I’m so glad they did. I not only got to see them from about 50 feet away but also there were no tour boats on my side of the sound to disturb my enjoyment of the moment.
As I had my iPhone handy, I was able to start a video. Fortunately, I was able to control my excitement enough to avoid adding my voice to the video so all you can hear is the breathing of the orcas and the wind in the trees behind me.
This was a magical moment!
I’m happy that, through the wonders of technology, I can share it with you.
Have a wonderful day!
Here are a couple of articles by writers who inspired me to write this piece. If you enjoyed my article, perhaps you will also enjoy theirs.
Suzie Alexander and her encounter with orcas in the southern Puget Sound:
Dr. Fatima Imam’s description of the Kay Gardner Beltline Park:
Thank you for sharing this moment with me.
I wish you well!
