Laila and “Flurry”

Laila (8 years old, from Germany) was very excited for her search of orcas with us when she came to West Iceland with her mum in late February 2017. They had followed what was going on with our orcas and their stories via our adoption program, and the orca trip with Láki Tours was booked even before their flights!
And, after several previous attempts in other places, this was indeed the first time Laila and her mum were actually successful on a whale watch. On a clear sunshine day, they especially got to see several very impressive fully-grown males next to the boat and in front of the glacier Snæfellsjökull.
When back home, Laila did a presentation on her trip and the orcas in front of her class, including pictures from the encounter. She was so taken by the orcas and her experience, that she decided to found a “nature and animal protection club” with her friends at school. With this club, they have been campaigning for school trips to go to the museum of natural history instead of the zoo, as not to support the captive industry. The club has also approached nature guides to inform the kids about forest animals in the school’s surrounding area, initiated school projects on animal protection, and grown plants in the garden of the day care center.

We were very impressed by their dedication and the effort that Laila and her friends made for nature and animal conservation. Therefore, we offered them the opportunity to name an orca from our population – a small reward for a great commitment, but Laila and her friends became super excited about it. They picked a male orca that Laila had seen on her Láki boat trip with us, and who had not received a name yet. After some discussion in the club, they gave the name “Flurry”, expressing both their own excitement and the wild soul of the orcas, as they stated. Awesome!
Even though Laila and her mum had already followed our orcas via the adoption program, they adopted yet another orca for Laila personally – the female Snowflake (SN054). Laila and her mum are also planning on yet another visit to Iceland in the future. And there’s no doubt which seats they will, once again, secure first.