diving with orcas

Are Orcas Dangerous? What I Learned in the Water

So many people fear orcas.

It’s understandable.

Most of what the public knows comes from two extremes: the tragedy of Blackfish, where captive orcas turned violent in unnatural tanks, and, more recently, headlines of wild pods sinking yachts. 

These are the stories that reach the masses, stories of danger.

But that’s not the story I know.

I’ve had the privilege of swimming with orcas in Baja, Norway, and New Zealand, spending hours in the water with them, watching, listening, and learning.

 I’ve seen them hunt with precision, communicate in ways we barely grasp, and yes, even play.

In New Zealand, I spun underwater like a dolphin, curious how they might react. 

The orcas swam around me, studying me, as much as I studied them.

In that moment, I was overwhelmed with emotions, but it wasn’t fear. 

It was awe, respect, and reverence for the intelligence of these beings.

Never once have I felt fear in their presence, only humility.

There is just something about orcas that pulls at people.

They embody mystery and majesty in equal measure. They’re emotional, intelligent, and connected to their families in ways that remind us of what we’ve lost as humans.

They are the ocean’s storytellers, and we’re only beginning to understand the language.

If there’s one truth we all seem to agree on, it’s this: Orcas do not belong in aquariums.

They do not belong in concrete tanks, performing tricks for crowds. 

They belong in the ocean, where their songs can travel for miles and their pods can live as they were meant to… FREE!

There are still around 70 orcas in captivity today, and every one of them deserves freedom.

Meanwhile, wild orca populations are slowly recovering, thanks to stronger protections and the decline of destructive fishing practices. 

With time and continued effort, their numbers will rise again.

And that gives me hope.

Because if there’s any species that deserves to continue its reign as the true master of the ocean, it’s the orca.

I was once asked, “If you could spend your life with only one animal, which would it be?”
Without hesitation, my answer was orcas. 

Well, maybe with a little hesitation.

Orcas are addictive in the best way, the kind of presence that changes you. Once you’ve shared the water with them, once you’ve looked into their eyes, you’re never quite the same again.

The reality is, people fear what they don’t understand.

And for generations, we’ve misunderstood orcas, labeling them “killers” while locking them behind glass.

Image by Brad Roaman

That glass made them crazy… as it would any of us.

But when you meet them where they truly belong, in the open ocean, you realize just how wrong we’ve been about orcas.

We have nothing to fear from them. 

The only thing we should fear is living in a world without them.

Day Three - Come on Orcas!

Day three and well, the challenge continues. Damn, I know I like a challenge but ok - orcas, it is time to come and say hi. Today was a beautiful day. There was a slight breeze, and the ocean was flat, flat flat! It was perfect. These are the days you dream of when you go out on the sea.

Unless you are chumming, then it is too calm, and there is not enough current, and your chum slick goes nowhere.

But if you are not chumming for sharks and looking for whales and dolphins, this is what you dream of - flat, perfect seas, not much current with a perfect sky. Today was perfection with excellent visibility as well. We just needed some orcas to make it EPIC. Sadly we did not find them.

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Rich chilling on the boat. Being patient. Thank you brother.

Rich chilling on the boat. Being patient. Thank you brother.

Something changed in the water over the last few days, and we are just trying to figure out what. Sadly we are not even close to figuring out what it is, all we know is - it was enough for the orcas to change their patterns, and now the game is trying to see what they plan next.

We made the most of our time out there playing with a pod of very dark-colored bottlenose dolphins. They were almost black; they were so dark. I think they were just tanned by the sun. Hammerheads skin tans, so why wouldn't a dolphin's skin?

Even our Captain was helping us try to find orcas, steering the boat in his own unique way.

Even our Captain was helping us try to find orcas, steering the boat in his own unique way.

We took a bunch of surface pics of them and also a bunch of underwater pics. The majority of those underwater images were crap because the dolphins would not come near us. We tried, though, repeatedly to take close-up photos of them, but they were not having it.

We finished the day a bit frustrated because the orcas are still a no show, but we understand this game - tomorrow is another day, and we all ready for it!

Thank you for reading and I hope to see you out in the world… somewhere… anywhere!

Travel Day... Getting Fired up!!!

Travel day. Today I picked up the group that is joining us for this trip. We are short two guests who sadly were locked up by their country from Israel. They were not allowed to travel here to Baja, which is heartbreaking; they were just a week away from this trip happening when their government decided it was not safe to travel. I am so sorry, guys.

This morning I left Cabo with our buddy Al who is joining us on this trip. We Ubered it to the airport to pick up our rental van. After that, we went to the airport to pick up the rest of our group joining us. In total, four guests are joining us this week. All of them eager to get out on the water and look for orcas and anything else the Ocean wishes to gift us with.

The boys. Al (wearing his Game Face), Jay, Garin and Richard.

The boys. Al (wearing his Game Face), Jay, Garin and Richard.

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We drove to our hotel, checked in then went down to a small restaurant to eat a quick dinner and get to know each other better. Everyone joining us had traveled with me before, so I knew them, but they did not know each other. It was fun small talk and easy to see that this group of sketchy guys (inside joke), we're going get along, and it was going to be a fun week. Reports of orcas this week have been good, so I am very optimistic about our chances for a good week. We will see, tomorrow is our first day on the water, and I am super eager to get out there and start looking.

Insane!!!

Insane!!!

Today the reports were that the orcas spent the day in Cabo Pulmo, and the video clip I saw was insane. They captured a video of the orca breaching extremely high… talk about EPIC!


After we returned from dinner, I grabbed my topside camera and decided to see what the local bird activity was like. The place we are staying at is a small seaside town, and there seems to be a lot of birds here, so it looks like it could be fun.



After a few minutes, I encountered a cat walking across the street. Normally domestic cats do not catch my attention, nor do I ever take pictures of them. However the tail and the markings on this cat captivated me. The bob tail and the color patterns on this cat made me wonder if maybe this cats momma might have danced with a wildcat, more specifically a bobcat? I snapped a few images of it, and after studying the images it left me thinking it is part wildcat. The cats eyes are captivating, and it has tiny tuffs on its ears… so who knows? It is an amazing looking cat though.

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bad image of the hummingbird. But what a beauty.

bad image of the hummingbird. But what a beauty.

I found a beautiful hummingbird feeding on some flowers. It was a species I had never seen before called the Xantus's hummingbird. It hung out for a little while, but then it flew off. I got a crappy image of it, but now… I really want to capture a nice shot of it, so I will be using any spare time to find it.

I also managed to find a couple of dead palm trees with some nesting woodpeckers and starlings in them. I focused my time there trying to capture some behavior images, which I am pretty happy with. I will try for more later, if I have time.

Overall it was a great day. Now we are all retired to our rooms to prep gear and get a good night's sleep… the adventure officially kicks off in the morning… FINALLY!

Starling momma feeding her chick.

Starling momma feeding her chick.

Thank you for reading and I hope to see you out in the world… somewhere… anywhere!