A Week at Orca Guardians

by Shilpa Shah

I’ve been in Grundarfjörður, West Iceland, with Orca Guardians for a week now. Last week started with bad weather and we were stuck on land – a good time for meetings and planning projects. We’ve been out on the water six times since Thursday. A big snowstorm started yesterday. Orca Guardians founder Marie and I are currently snowed in, catching up on admin and blogging.

Thursday had calm, glassy waters. We observed fifteen orcas in the morning, including SN280. We saw fifteen in the afternoon, including Von, Whirlwind, the cheeky Katla and family. The mood seemed relaxed, in the water and out. The orcas were cruising along fairly slowly. The humans on the boat enjoying watching them against the pinkish romantic sky and clear view of the glacier.

Friday morning’s trip was disappointing, with only a few white-beaked dolphins spotted at a distance. The wind was strong and sharp, sometimes making my face sting when scanning the horizon. Then in the afternoon we saw two small groups including Thor, Odin and Skadi. Marie sees these orcas fairly regularly; it was wonderful to see her greet them with a smile, like old friends.

Yesterday we had two very different trips. A fairly chilly, calm morning, where we quickly came across 12 orcas, including a number of youngsters. One slapped his/her tail repeatedly on the water in a way that seemed playful (we can’t tell the gender until they get older). At one point a small group started porpoising towards the back of the boat (porpoising is travelling fast, lunging out of the water rhythmically). They dived under and surfaced on the other side and headed away from us. I wondered if they were chasing something under the surface and felt the familiar achey frustration of only being able to witness their air-based world.

In the afternoon… snow. Everywhere. The thick, slow, Christmassy kind of snowflakes. We head out, with the crew regularly having to brush snow from the boat windows. Visibility drops. A cheeky snowball is thrown. Then suddenly: Gannets! Gulls! Orcas! Feeding frenzy. A number of large males and youngsters are particularly prominent, near the boat. They are surfacing all around us. It is hectic and incredible.

I watch Marie taking hundreds of photographs with a determined focus. On each trip she collects data on each orca, adding to her understanding of who is in which group, where they are going, what they are eating, how they behave. She is painting a picture of their existence here over time, which is building a strong case for their conservation. And she does this entirely in a non-invasive way, allowing them to be just as they are without disturbing them, or trying to collect samples from them.

I couldn’t feel my toes until the evening and my fingers didn’t de-freeze until a hot drink was placed into my hands, but the glow from seeing the orcas looking well this week surrounds me like a warm duvet. They currently seem to be feeding enough, and we have seen a number of energetic youngsters in the group (those under two years old have orangey patches, which turn white as they get older). I’m glad Orca Guardians is doing its part to help protect the orcas and their way of life, just as it is.

You can find the codes and photos of orcas mentioned here, and many others, collected in the Orca Guardians ID catalogue.