My favourite whale
This is a happy and beautiful story and yet it still breaks my heart to this day. Let me start by saying I might be a little passionate/little obsessed with orca - I know this might come as a shock to some of you. Once you spend hours upon hours with certain families and individual whales then something happens to you. It feels as if build a bond with them. You have your favourites. Once you have had a close, personal encounter with a certain orca then you feel a bond. I do in fact have mine. They are known as the T10's, a family of Bigg's orca.
Who wants a whale hug????
The pod/family consists of 3 orca - Mum and her two sons. Respectively, ID'd as T10, T10b & T10c. I am lucky enough to encounter them frequently on the Pacific North West and every time I do my heart soul sings with joy - there is a huge stupid grin on my face for the rest of the day. The reason for this feeling are from numerous experiences with this pod.
One time I was in 5-7m swell cruising beside them as they surfed and jumped out of the water playing - zig zagging under the vessel for about 30 mins. MIND BLOWN. Another time, I watched as the two brothers decided it would be fun to grab numerous harbour seal pups and swim over to the vessel with it still alive its mouth and then show myself and my guests the animal briefly whilst they chomped down demonstrating how to effectively eat your food without closing your mouth. Personally, I absolutely loved it!
The two brothers - T10b (in the background) & T10c.
The last time I got to encounter this family was on my birthday - December 29. They were on the hunt in the area and I got to spend a good chunk of time with them just before they went on the hunt. Then the biggest guy (T10b - my man!) spy-hopped near us. Best birthday present ever!!!! T10b is by far my favourite orca in the world - not only due to these amazing encounters I have previously mentioned but ALSO he was born in 1983 - same as me!
Now the heartbreak.. The sad thing is that in the last 6 months T10b has not been seen with his mum and little brother. This is bad - it highly suggests that he has died. Simply due to the fact he will never leave his family, as they are more attached to one another than us humans are.
My heart broke and is still broken. I, however, was lucky enough to see his mum and younger brother cruising past the coastline near my house a few weeks ago. It made me smile and the sight also made me cry.
These are some of my previous adventure posts:
Animal Encounter #3 ~ A mother orca teaching her young to hunt Aug 18, 2016: https://steemit.com/nature/@thomasjmitchell/animal-encounter-3-a-mother-orca-teaching-her-young-to-hunt-aug-18-2016
Animal Encounter #2 ~ Chin slapping Humpback July 22nd 2017: https://steemit.com/nature/@thomasjmitchell/animal-encounter-2-chin-slapping-humpback-july-22nd-2017
Finding whales in the ocean - easy, right...?!?!: https://steemit.com/adventure/@thomasjmitchell/finding-whales-in-the-ocean-easy-right
Thanks for reading and all the support, Steemit!!
All stories & photographs are of my own work unless noted under the picture in question.
For more stories and photos check out my Instagram feed: https://www.instagram.com/thomas_mitchell2912/
When I read the header I thought you were referring to steem whales lol Great pics :)
never - my world is all about real whales/cetaceans and other marine mammals. thanks for supporting me
Based on the votes on this post you might need to bump @kpine and @ausbitbank up the list of your favorite whales :)
When you want to Flag them but see their Steem power lol
Brother plz follow back and upvote my posts
What a beautiful and sad story. It reminded me the time I was seated in my living room, looking at the nocturnal sea and suddenly a herd of dolphins appeared in the middle of the night escorting a young dying dolphin. Me and some people who were transiting the street at that hour, helped the rest of the dolphins to find their way out of the beach, because they almost strand. Fortunately, the rest of them got out, leaving just the dead one.
Nature makes me cry a lot cuz of its overwhelming and mostly unexplained nature. It's so cool that you get to see them but that also increases the chances of getting attached. Take care of your emotional well-being. Sending you light & love.
Vaya! fantastico relato tiene mucha intensidad tus lineas, no conocia esos aspectos de las orcas, buen post
Hello Thomas,
Thank you for sharing this incredible story about your life journey with these particular orcas.
Love the photos and what you are doing. Hope you see T10B again.
Peace my friend.
A wonderful feeling. It's hard to see them in my country.
Your story brought tears to my eyes. I remember in psychology classes we learned about whale communication, and family bonding. Turns out, whales DO grieve. They have very closely knit communities, and they are very smart. Humans could learn a lot from Orcas, in particular. Thank you for sharing your beautiful story.
What a wonderful experience. I would love to walk in your shoes. I would feel the same way if one was missing from the group. I guess you will never know huh? The Orca's are such amazing creatures. Thank you for sharing a part of your life. And it's something you will never forget!