Seward, Alaska
While casually scanning Resurrection Bay from Fourth of July Beach, I noticed two suspicious-looking plumes on the far southwest side. I watched in anticipation and waited. Yes! There! A huge vertical dorsal fin of a bull Orca broke through the white-capped waves, sent up another vapor plume, arched, and vanished. Then another, smaller-finned Orca surfaced, breathed, and dove. Wow! Orcas in the bay!
I followed them as they swam powerfully and steadily north towards Tonsina Point, sometimes turning towards me head-on, then at the next exhalation, swimming north again. Though they were very far away, I could imagine the flukes pumping up and down, the explosive breath, the towering dorsal fin slicing the surface, and their sleek bodies sliding smoothly back into the water, leaving nothing but a ripple and delicate, ephemeral mist.
The Steller Sea Lion, Harbor Seal, and two Sea Otters swimming along the beach in front of me had nothing to fear from these transient Orcas, yet. The dangerous, silent mammal hunters were over two miles away and still heading north.
I wished I could instantly fly across the bay like an eagle, but instead drove my magic carpet all the way around the bay to Lowell Point, scanning the water without any luck.
I’ll be watching tomorrow; they could be anywhere, or nowhere. What a sight!
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