A Close Encounter with Orcas in British Columbia

I usually bring my 40-150mm 2.8 pro lens for a whale watching tour without a second thought as the whales are never close enough to use a shorter focal length. For the first time, I stood at the trunk of the car and questioned whether I should take the shorter focal length lens.

I had been on 2 whale watching trips during my visits to British Columbia this summer and didn’t even think about it before, but for some reason I had 2 minutes of photographer anxiety. In the end, I didn’t take it because I know that when wildlife appears closer than they normally do, there’s not enough time to change lenses.

Maybe I just knew I was going to see orca whales up close. 

We came upon a pod of transient orcas after about a 20 to 30-minute ride from where we departed at Fisherman’s Wharf in Victoria, British Columbia. Transient orca whales are also known as Biggs killer whales. We watched them alternate between shorter 2-minute and deeper 4-minute dives. In those longer dives, they were hunting.

As our captain vied for position and stopped a safe distance away, my best friend who is from British Columbia and is Nlaka’pamux and Cree First Nations was quietly singing her ancestral songs. We were the only 2 on the back of the boat.

Suddenly,  a spy hop!

At that moment, I knew they were coming.

 

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Spyhop!

 

Shortly after the spyhop, some of the orcas started poking their head out of the water as if they were checking us out.

 

Checking us out. - Victoria, British Columbia
Orca whale in the Straight of Juan de Fuca near Race Rocks, about 17 km from Victoria, British Columbia.

 

I started to notice more surface activity but weren’t sure what the whales were up to. Then, we could see a harbour porpoise. They seemed more interested in playing with it than eating it as they would push it along and disappear with it under the water. The naturalist on board our Eagle Wings Tours boat thought that they were teaching the baby orca how to hunt. The truth is, he wasn’t sure, as he said that he had never seen anything like it before.

While the large male orca swam close to Eagle Wing tour’s other boat, my friend started to sing a little louder. I knew she was trying to communicate.

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An orca shows us a belly roll.

 

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Two orcas and a harbour porpoise.

 

Then, two orcas were straight out in front of us with their heads above the water looking towards us with the porpoise between them. It was as if to say ‘look what we have’.

The next moment they came towards us.

OrcasPorpoise
Two orcas show us their catch, a harbour porpoise.

 

As they got closer, I switched to video mode and captured the moment they swam under our boat, twice! I said hello and thanked them, out loud.

I thought they’d reappear on the other side of the boat, but instead they resurfaced on the same side that they started from, right beside us.

Two orcas in the water near British Columbia with Race Rock in the background.
Orcas with Race Rocks in the background, about 17km from Victoria, British Columbia.

 

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We saw humpback whales too, we think we saw 2 different ones. Humpback whale tail.

 

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A humpback whale tail against a British Columbia sunset.

 

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A beautiful sunset behind Trial Island, near Victoria, British Columbia

 

Every now and again I’d hear my friend say “kuk’stem” which is thank you in the Nlaka’pamux language. She was following Indigenous protocol in giving thanks to the whales and the Creator.

Until next time,

Andrea… and my wandering iPhone