The orca in this photo is a Southern Resident Killer Whale, known as J27, or Blackberry. I was on the Ocean Magic with Prince of Whales in the summer of 2012 off San Juan Island. The water was glass and the sky a beautiful shade of blue – Not a common set of conditions along the west coast!

Blackberry had been paralleling our boat, between us and the island, when suddenly he made a 90 degree turn towards the boat. He crossed our stern and surfaced just off the boat. The angle of the sun in his exhalation created a stunning rainblow as he broke the surface. The combination of events led to this beautiful image – One of my all time favourites!

-Marcie

This story was adapted from a blog post, read the originalhere