The Joy of Killer Whales in the Wild
Whenever I’m confronted with someone’s statement that we need to keep orcas in captivity so that people can see the value in protecting them, I’m reminded of an incident that I experienced about 20 years ago in the Tofino Inlet. I was out in a very small boat with a few friends and out of the calm waters we could see three orca’s dorsal fins coming closer to our boat as they swam close to the surface, periodically diving deeper under the water. While it was a bit of a scary experience to see a small pod of whales that close to our tiny boat, it gave us all a much greater feeling of wonder than we’d ever experienced at a whale show at an aquarium. I don’t know about my friends, but I have never personally been back to an aquarium since then. The following video captures a great deal of the wonder that I felt that day out in Tofino.
