Whale Trip Four – Back to San Juan for Super Pod event with our children. It is time to introduce the kids to whales.

We pack the kids up, get on the ferry and head to our west side ocean view rental. We pull in and the kids are excited by the pool. But Nikki’s oldest daughter on the trip, Ginny says I just saw a whale. We weren’t sure she knew what she was talking about, so we stopped unloading luggage and go to look. She was right, the orca were already in front of our home feeding, playing, resting, etc. My mom was shocked. She didn’t understand how easy it was going to be to see the whales. I didn’t think they would be around as soon as we pulled in to our rental for the week. They stayed for hours. One group then another. We didn’t end up unloading or getting in the house until late that evening. We all watched whales. What a way to start the week off!

It was a super pod event on SJI this year and that was why we visited. Blackfish, the documentary had come out and it was really hurting the captivity industry, especially Sea World. The film followed and interviewed previous trainers from aquariums that had trained and worked with orca, especially Tilikum the whale that killed Dawn Brancheau at Sea World Orlando. To our surprise and excitement this super pod event was going to have several of the trainers from Blackfish for meet and greets and educational talks. We couldn’t be happier. Of course, being in town at conferences was difficult because it took us from the whales swimming in front of our oceanside rental.

Lucky us we got to meet several people and hear their amazing stories. John Hargrove, John Jett, Carol Ray, Jeff Ventre, Chris Porter, Howard Garrett, Susan Berta, Ken Balcomb, etc. (All Blackfish). But Ingrid Visser was someone that I never thought I would meet. I dreamed of it but didn’t think it would happen. Ingrid is feisty and loves orca. She is from New Zealand, a scientist that records/catalogs the orca in her part of the world. She is one of the only researchers I am familiar with that swims with the orca. The orca of New Zealand eat sting rays. The sting rays in order to stay away from orca go into shallow areas and hide under rocks or the sea bed. Orca must learn to maneuver their massive bodies in shallow water to eat. What happens a bit is the orca beach themselves while hunting sting rays and then must be rescued. Hopefully rescue teams find them in time but not always. So, the orca of New Zealand have experienced humans more than most orca in the wild because of the rescues. Ingrid has been part of several of the rescues. She has seen whales she saved later reunited with their pods and living a successful whale life. She was never afraid of them that is why she swims with them. Her photos are amazing and her relationship with some of the orca is something I dream of for myself.

We took Ginny (Nicki’s daughter) with us to some of the events. Of all the children she is the one that is connecting most with sea life. She wore her Sea World Sucks shirt her mom made for her. Ingrid Visser happened to be standing by us and we didn’t know it. She commented on Ginny’s’ shirt and said, “I love your shirt”. I looked back to see who it was, and it was Ingrid. I froze as I couldn’t believe it. I whispered to Nikki and Ginny. “You know who that is don’t you?” No, was the answer. I said Ingrid trying to stay calm. We were so excited. She was very busy that week planning her presentations and finding time to see the SRW and other orca experts in the area. We heard through the grapevine that she passed out or nearly passed out before a presentation from exhaustion but continued to speak anyways. She is a force and you feel that immediately while in her presence. I did have an opportunity to ask a couple one on one questions with her, so I am so grateful. She is an amazing lady doing amazing work. Her new passion is trying to free Morgan from the Loro Parque in Spain. Morgan is a female orca who was found in Netherlands beached and she was captured to save her, but many people including Ingrid believed Morgan should have been returned to the sea. The captive industry wanted this orca and they succeeded in moving Morgan to Loro Parque in Spain. Ingrid is on a mission to get her returned to the ocean. Please visit Ingrid’s page for more details if interested, as Morgan and Ingrid would be grateful.

There were events held at Lime Kiln Park and the Center for Whale Research on San Juan Island, with super pod speakers in attendance as well as the orcas, however briefly. They showed up only to turn around and head back to the area in front of our house. Lol
Our last night in SJI included, our last boat ride out to say goodbye to the whales. We had one large male come super close to the boat. I am sure it was Blackberry as I am connected with him in some strange way and he was one of the males in the group we were watching. Kind of like my story with the gray whale. I thought I would love the babies to only find I wanted to connect with the mothers. With the SRW I am connected to Blackberry and I thought it would be L25 Ocean Sun. What I realize is I never know what is going to happen in the presence of these magnificent creatures, so just go with the flow now. What I know for sure is that it is always so hard to leave them.