Orcas in the Wild

Photographing resident orcas in the wild is my dream assignment. Orcas are powerful, graceful, and intelligent creatures that we usually only see captive in the aquariums. I would love to show the world what they are really like.

Photographing resident orcas in the wild is my dream assignment.

Orcas are magnificent marine mammals and I have been fascinated with them since I was young. They are both powerful and ethereal, and command your attention when they are present. With their striking black and white body markings, some orcas roam the oceans in tight family pods led by a common mother. They are also intelligent creatures with complex social systems.

However, most of us only see orcas up close when they are captive in aquariums. We watch a small group of them with bent dorsal fins perform some programmed leaps in their blue-painted tanks, and then we wave goodbye to them an hour later when we leave the show. Other people go out on whale-watching tours for a couple of hours and are lucky to see orcas swim close-by and leap out once in a while.

But what are they really like beneath the surface? How do they really interact in their large social groups? From the feedings during high salmon season to the therapeutic belly rubs at Johnstone Strait’s rubbing beaches in the Pacific Northwest, I want to capture orcas’ daily moments as most people do not see and illustrate their close interactions with each other.

So far, we know of three types of orcas – residents, transients, and off-shores. I would like to focus on the resident orcas because they have large family groups and are easier to locate than the other two types. In addition to photographing resident orcas above water, I also want to explore their world beneath the waves in their natural habitats, and show the world what they are really like.

Let the dream begin.

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