to the surface with a huge
02 We wonder if it is
crash. The pod disappeared
safe to enter the water
for several minutes after this
with the orcas
and we sadly thought the
03 The pod of graceful
orcas swim towards me
show was over. But no – the
in the clear blue water
large male then surfaced in the
04 To our amazement,
distance and thrashed about
there followed
spectacular, gravitywith a turtle in its mouth.
defying tail slaps
When we approached them
again, there was no sign of the turtle, but once
again the orcas engaged in a series of playful close
encounters near to the panga.
I quietly slipped into the
water alone as the others
looked on in disbelief
04
As trip leader of 15 guests cruising the
Galápagos, I carefully considered my response to
Albert because I had no experience in the water
with these large predators. I turned to him and
the others and responded, “I am not 100 percent
certain that this is safe, but the pod has been very
social around the boat and showing no signs of
aggression towards us. There has never been a
recorded fatal attack on a human by an orca in
the wild and this is an extremely rare opportunity.
Each of you have to make your own decision of
whether to go in or not, but I cannot live with
the regret of not trying.” Thus I quietly slipped
into the water alone as the others looked on in
disbelief from the security of the panga.
The pod of five graceful orcas slowly swam
towards me in the clear blue water. The large
male, with a four foot tall dorsal fin, closed in
quickly as if to protect the other three females
and calf from this strange creature and make sure
that I was not a threat. Eventually, the others
from the boat joined me in the water and over the
next 40 minutes, we were treated to a once -in-alifetime experience of swimming with orcas in the
wild – the way they are meant to be seen.
The Galápagos Marine Reserve is one of
the most unique ecosystems in the world and
provides rich biodiversity both below and above
the water. It seemed like every day of our 10-day
trip introduced us to a new interesting
animal or animal behaviour – although everyone’s
most memorable and exhilarating wildlife
encounter happened during our 40-minute
snorkel with orcas. SDOP