Orca Safari-Humpback Day November 14th 2017

It snowed overnight while were docked in Skjervøy! The sun didn't make an appearance at all that morning, it was a grey day with low-hanging clouds and a bit damp-feeling. Nonetheless the plan was to push into the fjords to find a little pod to play with. Not long after breakfast, we got the call to come see something special.

NEVER IN MY LIFE! I've seen whales in Alaska, in Japan, swum with them in Tonga, gotten close in Quebec. It's always impressive but there is no way, I will ever possibly top what I saw this morning.

They estimated that there was a family group of up to twenty [scratch that! They now think it might have been forty!] Humpbacks feeding together. Immense cetacean heads blasted forth from the depths; baleen distended and full of seawater and Herring. They look like the Sand-Worms from Frank Herbert's Dune or massively radioactively mutated Venus Fly Traps.

Boom, Boom, Boom

Photo credit: Donna N.

and then Hump, Hump, Hump

Photo credit: Donna N.

and then Fluke, Fluke, Fluke

Photo credit: Donna N.

and gone for a few minutes. But not just three at a time, that has been edited for readability, there were countless whale tails revealed one after another every few seconds as they dove.

Captain Olav let us enjoy them for a bit and then he skippered us onward. I remained outside looking for sea birds and enjoying the snowy mountains in a meditative state. The water wasn't glassy smooth but it wasn't choppy either so when a fountain of white foam suddenly churned, it attracted my eye and HOLY SHIT flying whale at 200 paces! Pectoral fins in perfect figure skater formation applying torque in a spiralling gyre and then a big splashdown after the breach.

Photo credit: Donna N.

And again. 

Photo credit: Donna N.

The flying fish here get pretty big! More tears formed but so did more memories.

There were so many whales to observe that we didn't come in for lunch until 2 pm when we enjoyed chicken marinated with yogurt mint sauce, rice and cashew bread.

Light was fading and there were no Orca so we knew that we could relax for the rest of the day. Out came the wine, out came the Akkevit, out came the whisky and out came the cards both memory and playing.

People came and went to and from the common room choosing to nap or socialize throughout the day. We lobbied Pierre Robert and Gijs to fire up the outdoor hot-tub so they began to pump the seawater in but it takes five hours for the wood-burning stove to heat the water!

We had our evening presentation at 7 pm about the worldwide population of Orca and how they use different techniques to hunt and kill their prey. Depending on where they live, they eat stingrays, penguins or other sea birds, fish, sea lions and seals or even porpoises, dolphin and whales.

After viewing graphic demonstrations of their predation, the talk ended with the following question:

Why don't Orca attack humans in the wild?

There has never been a single recorded case.

The truth is that we just don't know. Pierre Robert posits that they are too intelligent to waste energy on such a chaotic and unreliable food source.

Until we start behaving as predictably as a penguin or a seal, we are about as interesting to an Orca as a brussels sprout is to a five-year-old. I'm just as happy to sit uneaten on the side of their plate.

We docked the Sula in a small harbour in Sørkjosen. Among the most interesting facts about this town is that it's near Norway's largest Salmon spawning river and that the wool shop is open until 11 pm!

Photo credit: Donna N.

After our lovely supper of beef patties with a side of potato and cauliflower mash and honey roasted carrots, some of the group set out for knitting supplies and a drink at the local bar.

The temperature of the air was around -4 degrees Celsius but the hot tub was now up to 40 degrees so when our late night shoppers got home we all piled into the steaming soup pot! Captain Olav distributed felt Orca bonnets for us to wear in the tub. 

Photo credit: Donna N.

In no time, our faces were pink and sweaty under the night sky. Our first mate Gijs proposed a polar plunge. One by one, we exited the tub and made our way to the Hårek, jumped into the 8 degree harbour water in just our bathing suit then climbed up the ladder back to the hot tub. I did it two times and I don't think I have ever felt so relaxed. The experience made for a perfect coda to an exciting day.

Photo credit: Donna N.