6/21/08:
In the afternoon, I was out on Western Prince. First we met up with some of J pod near Cattle Point, and then most of J, K and L pod grouped up, including Ruffles, Granny, and Faith. They began to get very active, with spy hops, breaching, and some hanky-panky! They then formed a ragged line and rolled by us, at least 20-25 orcas, all breathing and diving in unison in the glass smooth water...those giant KAWOOFs echoing across the Strait and into my heart! More enormous breaches, cartwheels and fooling around, and lots of chattering on the hydrophone. That evening was Orca Sing at Lime Kiln. At first we saw the whales quite far out with the water still flat calm, and the Olympic Mountains shining in the setting sun, but then, as the choir led us in the Hallelujah song, they started coming closer and closer and closer, and very active with breaches and spy hops, maybe looking at us and listening? My heart was full of joy and love and peace, and a great sense of community with both the whales and the people. I moved over to the north side of the lighthouse and saw one female come very close to the rocks in the kelp, and she tipped her dorsal fin over toward us, as if to say "hello people". They slowly moved north, with their blows back-lit by the summer solstice evening light. My diary reads: "Hard to put into words the feelings of this evening....'wonder'- not in the sense of questioning, but awe and gratitude...oneness with everything around me."