The most memorable day
The 5th of September began like a normal low-season Sunday in Cabo: waking up late and relaxing at home. My phone rang and it was a good friend of mine and captain who works in Cabo Pulmo. He was calling to give us a report that the Orcas had just passed Cabo Pulmo and were on their way to Cabo. The report was clear as he had spent more than an hour with them and their behaviour and direction had not changed. It was a small pod swimming just 2 miles from the coast and heading towards Cabo. My first thought was “can we make it?” My second thought was, “we will never know unless we try.” So we rushed to pack our bags and get our cameras ready, we ran to the boat and off we went!
The conditions were spectacular. The ocean was a particularly beautiful shade of blue, the surface was flat and the air was extra light. Over an hour had passed from the time we got the report to the time we were leaving the marina on the boat. We headed north from San Jose del Cabo, feeling very anxious and doing our best to keep hopes high and expectations low. After over an hour I began getting really nervous, but as it often happens when searching for wildlife…they appeared just as we were about to give up.
The blow coming from a pod of Orcas is unmistakable, and you often hear them before you see them. Their blow is powerful and the pod often surfaces in unison so it's almost always more than one blow that you see. The moment you see a pod of Orcas in the wild, an incredible feeling takes over. It is a sense of awe and excitement and a whole lot of gratitude. On this incredible day, we were lucky enough to be alone in the ocean with the pod for about 3 hours, living unbelievably close encounters.
Before even considering jumping in the water, we follow the Orcas from the boat, watching and analyzing their behavior and level of interest before we approach them in their environment. Once we see that they are calm and not avoiding the boat, we start to enter the water. THIS MOMENT IS INDESCRIBABLE.
Every time we jumped in, the Orcas became more and more curious, they would swim close to us, purposefully making eye contact and swimming in between us. The young calf would separate for a brief moment to have an extra-long look at us. Another juvenile whale would also slow down as it passed us and after a while, we felt like the Orcas were socializing with us. They were turning around and coming back to us, circling around us diving up and down between the three of us. They transmitted a sense of acknowledgments and compassion. This interaction was one of the most intimate moments I have ever experienced with a wild animal.
After these intense and intimate interactions, the Orcas started changing their direction, and diving for longer periods of time. We took this as a sign that they were done interacting with us and decided to give them some space by jumping on board and watching them from above.
Not long after, we spotted something strange floating up to the surface and it was undoubtedly a shark liver. We don't know what species of shark, but it was definitely a shark. As we stared at this strange piece of meat floating on the surface of this perfectly flat ocean, the Orcas surfaced again. Moments later we spotted one of them with something in her mouth. Originally we thought it was the shark. We slowly and quietly slipped into the water, to watch from afar as they shared a meal. Sharing a meal is one of the most intimate and important rituals for Orcas, and being able to observe this is also incredibly special. It turned out not to be a shark but a mobula mobular. The mother and calf shared the mobula while floating at around 10 meters deep, and then gave it over to another Orca who eventually ripped off a piece and let the rest sink into the abyss.
The afternoon was coming to an end and we spent the rest of it watching this amazing pod socialize in the setting sun. Topped with a remarkable breach as if to say “thanks, we are off”
Moments like these in the water are the most rewarding. When it’s clear that encounters are on their terms and the curiosity between us and wildlife is reciprocal.
“Profoundly humbling experiences are good for our souls: those knee-knocking, gut emptying, jaw-dropping, life-altering moment when you come flat up against the reality that we are each, no matter how big our egos or incomes insignificant flesh-specks fortunate enough to be alive in this grand universe, those moments such as when we stay up late to see the Milky Way… or stand agape at the edge of the Grand Canyon or an erupting volcano… or watch the birth of our own child. Of all of these, there are few as deeply affecting as having an encounter in the wild with one of natures premier (predators)””
