Orca, Almost Close Enough to Touch

Day 43

Do you wake up bright-eyed and alert, organized and ready for action? I wish I had been all of that this morning. I slid out of bed and meandered slowly, without my contact lenses, up to the galley for the day’s first cup of coffee. A blur in my peripheral vision, motion close by, caught my attention. A small fin glided past, just outside the window, and disappeared underwater. Hmmm, a fin… wait, a fin?!  Then more fins sliced through the surface, followed by the sleek, rounded bodies of killer whales quietly blowing and cruising by out of the bay.

I hold a vivid picture in my memory of those few moments, but have no great photo image to share. The first click of my camera brought up a reminder that there was no card available to capture the image. Drat! I knew better than to leave the camera empty overnight with its card still inserted into the computer. I shouted for RL who leapt out of bed and, without stopping to put his contacts in, grabbed his big camera, raced on deck and shot blindly at the rippled surface ahead of the boat. What luck! his image shows the four departing orca. Ah, but you should see the closeup in my mind’s eye, an image of orca almost close enough to touch.