In Search of Whales

In Search of Whales
Ritwick Mukherjee, 1974 Electrical Engineering

It had been our lifelong wish to go on an ocean trip in the northern Pacific Ocean near Alaska to see the dolphins frolicking alongside our ship, or much more. It was a God-sent opportunity to avail of such an oceanic voyage while we were holidaying in British Columbia, Canada.

On a clear, cold day of early June 2023, we set off from our son’s house in Victoria to reach Campbell River, (a small town in the northern part of Vancouver Island), to board a private motorboat for touring the entire stretch of the bay up to the Pacific Ocean. Captain cum owner of the boat was a middle-aged local who had spent his entire life sailing on these waters and knew all the islands and shores like the back of his hand.

We sailed at a leisurely pace for half an hour, viewing the scenic beauty, when all of a sudden, a family of Orcas started swimming alongside us and continued to do so for more than 2 to 3 miles. They left us when we came near an island shore to have a close look at a colony of seals and sea lions, stretched out on the rocks.

More than a couple of hours had passed but we had not seen a single large whale except some gliding fins far away. Captain steered the boat through an isthmus (narrow piece of land) and into a bigger and calmer body of water, much nearer the ocean and shut the engine down. We were bobbing merrily on the slightly undulating swell, when we suddenly spotted a high spouting water cascade which heralds an approaching whale exhaling from down under.

The suspense and excitement mounted. There was a flurry of activity on our boat with all of us getting our cameras ready and trying to position ourselves at a vantage point on the tiny deck. Finally, we were not disappointed, for soon enough a large whale jumped up a little far away and then swam lazily underneath our boat, passing within touching distance. Thereafter, a pair of whales appeared together and started dancing, so to say, all around our boat, keeping a safe distance of about 500 metres. To our utter delight, they unexpectedly breached the water surface and jointly jumped, full body, out of the water like synchronised swimmers.

What a magnificent sight to see two of the world’s largest mammals, each larger than a double-decker bus, show us with the elegance of acrobats, what they were capable of!! They seemed to understand our admiration and continued to entertain us for an hour with a dozen such two-some huge vaults and turns, as we gazed completely mesmerised. We lost track of time and only came back to reality when they finally bid us farewell and swam away. Hours had passed as quickly as seconds. After nearly six hours, we returned to port, our minds fully satiated with this unforgettable experience.

We had finally seen Moby Dick!!
(A FAMOUS KILLER WHALE OF A NOVEL)!!
25.12.2023