So I was working as an expedition guide last season in Antarctica, and the biggest thing I wanted to see when I was down there was orcas. I knew that the Southern Ocean, surrounding Antarctica, has the densest population of orcas in the world. So I thought my chances would be pretty good for seeing them. Little did I know it would be much more difficult to see them than anticipated. We went month after month after month without seeing them, and I started to wonder if maybe I would go home and not even see them. So that was disappointing for me, but still, I kept my hopes up, and luckily, that patience paid off for one day later in the season, we had some crazy weather. We had extreme winds, a lot of snow, so we had to cancel the operation and change the location of the ship. We were originally going to be in one spot for the afternoon, and due to the weather, we had to cancel those plans and go elsewhere.
Within an hour or so of having canceled the plans and the ship maneuvering to the new location, we suddenly got an announcement over the PA system on the ship, saying, We have whales in the water. Of course, no matter what it is, I get excited and I run out to the outer decks to see what kind of whale we have. And to my astonishment, when I arrived outside and I saw the whales, they happened to be the orcas that I had been looking for for all those months. So once we found out that it was orcas, we made an additional announcement, told everyone what they were, and that’s when people just started flooding out. Everyone on the ship came out on the outer deck, their binoculars, their cameras, and were just in complete awe of what we were seeing.
It was a pod of about maybe 10 or 12 individuals, and they weren’t too far off the ship. The ship stopped, went silent, and we just stayed in that location for, you know, 30-40, minutes complete silence, watching these orcas, seeing their beautiful dorsal fins coming out of the water, seeing them play around, be curious. It was so special, and I was really grateful to have that opportunity to see them and to just watch them for so long. Because there’s there’s, you know, the Southern Ocean is very large. There’s lots of orcas, but they’re also very well spread out. So the chances of actually coming across them, it appears, are less common than I had originally thought.
So my favorite thing was just seeing the faces of everyone else. So excited, especially, you know, my fellow guides, all of us, having wanted to see orcas all season long. And, you know, looking at them with this childlike, you know, awe in their faces as we looked at these beautiful wild animals. And I think that’s what’s so special about, you know, whales in particular. They’re big animals that people get really excited about just almost naturally.
And I think it’s wonderful that whales and like the orcas that we were seeing here, are able to instill that childlike amazement and excitement and awe in adults and children alike as well. But it really fills me with a lot of joy to see other people so excited about seeing wildlife like that. And I think orcas are one of those, one of those animals, that there’s something almost mystical and extra special about them. People feel, you know, like a really spiritual connection to to orcas a lot of the times. And you know, seeing people with tears in their eyes, and it was really special. So that was actually the only time we saw orcas in in Antarctica that season. And I’m heading back this season, and I hope to see more, because what a special experience.
-Selby
This post was adapted from a voice recording in episode 72 of the Whale Tales Podcast, listen here.
Leave a Reply