Kayaking with Orcas

It is Sunday night on Cabbage Island.

Midnight! Tomorrow, Monday, will start within seconds. I should be sleeping…

I can’t. My mind is stirred up. Today was a great day.
No. It was beyond great. Today was an unbelievable day!

I close my eyes and I can see them again, the gentle giants, as they glide through the sea, as they blow water spray up high.

Did they see me?

Did they notice me?

What were they thinking?

Here is a true story. I am too excited to sleep. A whale passed me on the right, another on the left and three others must have gone underneath my kayak. And this is how it happened:

The wind blows strong. I decide to stay close to shore as I leave Narvaez Bay campground. Cliffside’s shoreline protects me from gusting winds. It really is quite pleasant paddling here. It is sunny and my dry-suit keeps me warm. I made the right choice crossing the bay and following the shoreline: no wind and sometimes currents in my favour.
Then I hear the blows. Two of them. Many times had I turned around looking for the source of blow-like sounds and whales, only to find the sound was a creation of a wave hitting an air pocket inside some rocks.

I hear more blows. anticipating nothing, a rock, or maybe a seal, I turn and see two black forms diving and surfacing. I wonder if they are harbour porpoises. I heard porpoises regularly come to Narvaez Bay.

They come closer. They do not move like porpoises. Porpoises create more of a circular shape as they surface and do not show much of themselves. These fins are taller and they also are blowing air and water up high… not like porpoises. Are there orcas in Narvaez Bay? I never heard about that before, so I remain skeptical.

But these fins moving toward me are blowing air and water, making these blowing sounds, too.

They must be whales. As they come closer, I see black and white areas within the shapes. They come toward me. My heart is racing. I pull out my camera, making sure to keep it dry. I still do not own one of these nice waterproof cameras that I really should have right now.

I decide to film rather than take pictures, as this is going to be the sure way to capture something.

Camera ready, I realise I am on my own, on the water, in my kayak, nobody sees me and I count 5 orcas moving toward me.

What if…

I loose my balance?

I drop my phone? My emergency contact would not get her 4 pm message as arranged and worry about me.

I come back to the moment, camera ready and filming.

Now, no whales in sight. Nothing for 5 then 10 seconds, my hands slightly shaking.

Then, on my right: a slow moving gentle giant of the sea. Graceful, majestic, magnificent, blowing air and water. The moment he is under water, I see another on my left. Wow. Beauty, just beauty. What happened to the other three? Their dorsal fins appear out of the water, some 20 metres away, in front of me. They must have gone underneath my kayak.

What would they be thinking? What are they doing?

I am in love. I pause as I see the gently giants move into the distance till they dive out of sight.
It is time to carry on with my journey. I don’t want to follow too close. Leaving a gap, I paddle on.

My heart is overjoyed, my hands still shaking; I am happy I had this experience. What more can one wish for? It was a unique encounter, just me and 5 whales. They have disappeared. I do not see them anymore. I keep paddling. I am happy.

There they are again; they turn around.

Really? I see them getting closer.
This time I put my camera away and just enjoy their magnificent movements and their impressive size.

The gentle giants pass me once more.

I am in love, in orca love. I watch as one dives down, followed by another in the same location; another follows. It seems like a dance. Maybe they are feeding. I do not know. They stay in the same spot for 10 minutes, maybe 20, maybe longer.

Time is confusing, I watch the orcas and their continuous dance.
It is time to depart to go to my 4 pm check-in appointment with Kate. I already know I do not get a signal with my phone and I have to get around Boiling Reef when currents are slow; I cannot risk being late. I say farewell to the whales and paddle on, happy in my heart.

Video footage of my orca encounter below. I have edited into a 2 minute movie titled: Kayaking with Orcas.