Swimming with killer whales !
Swimming with killer whales !
«Orcas in sight ! » John Stenersen drops his binoculars and opens the throttle. The zodiac boat proceeds at twenty knots in the cold air along the rocky ice-polished walls of the fjord. Straight ahead, the snow-covered peaks of the Lofoten islands are endlessly turning rosy because of the winter sun. Three hundreds yards port side, tail flukes, straight and glossy, almost 6,5 feet high suddenly appears from the dark waters. A big male orca. Stuck in our diving suits, masks on the nose, we are being dangled on the zodiac boat. John is reducing speed. Several females, easily recognizable because of their shorter back-curved fins, have joined the gigantic male. John repeats us one more last time the safety rules. Stay together, do not disturb the orcas and avoid abrupt movements. We dive smoothly. The temperature of the water does not exceed 37°F. A good dry diving suit is necessary ! But the good news is that it is actually hoter in the water than outside on the boat where it is freezing to death. Only restraint, we need to empty our masks to make the condensation disappear and then dive our heads again under the water. Just enough time to get used to the feeble light and we perceive, coming from the abyss, a spindle-shaped form: the conical head of a female orca is charging us ! And just 10 feet before reaching us, she suddenly turns around and shows us her white abdomen. A bit farer, another female shoots out of water in a hazy cloud, and holds up her head, in the “spying” so-called position, and turns toward us to observe us. [...]
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