Swimming With False Orcas

By: Ben

The giant eyes looked into mine and I gasped.  Then they disappeared into the murky water and surfaced next to my dad and brother.  None of us could believe the amazing experience we had just shared.

At three o’clock on a sunny afternoon, a small fishing boat pulled up to the back of Viamiti, the 130 foot sail boat on which my family and I were living. Leaving from Academy Bay off the island of Santa Cruz in the Galapagos, the plan was to go offshore for a 3 hour fishing trip.  Our captain, Felix, provided all the fishing equipment.  We motored 2 miles out of the bay to a large underwater drop off where big fish such as wahoo and tuna come to feed.  The boat was set up for trawling, which is when the line and bait drag behind a moving boat.  After twenty minutes of watching the shore shrink behind us, we put the two lines out, one in my dad’s hands and the other in my brother’s. 

Since fishing is a game of patience everyone was daydreaming in silence.  Almost immediately the peace was shattered by our guide, Luis.   His finger shot forward as he shouted “whale!” and we all sprang to our feet.  Two days earlier Luis had been adamant that seeing a whale in these waters was unlikely, so nobody was more surprised than he was. Whales were everywhere, surfacing for air.  Luis suggested that we get in the water, and as I was thinking that he was crazy he took off his shirt and grabbed a mask.   We entered the water with our clothes and a borrowed mask because it was all we had.  Knowing that the ocean floor was over 3000 feet below us we were a bit reluctant to get in.  When we did the cold temperature shocked us. 

 

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