Hanson

"ORCA! ORCCAAA!" the call skips across the crystalline cove and suddenly the scene is alive with people running from all directions towards the observation deck hanging out over the ocean. The rhythmic thu-thud-thu-thud of the axe stops, the wood dropped beside the chopping block; dinner preparations are abandoned - the whales are here! The bay is calm and the anticipation hangs heavy in the still air as the family of black fins slide into sight. They move with so much mystery, weaving through the current in the fading light.

I glance around at the group of people gazing through the scopes on the deck - they have all been brought here to Hanson Island by these giant sea-beings, some of them studying biology, others simply in love with animals. The Orcalab has been bringing people together from around the world for decades. The lab is perched on the same rocky outcropping Paul Spong first pitched his tent on in 1970, following the whale trail, after rejecting the idea that great wild beings can be studied from the confines of an aquarium tank. Out of a vision to study the whales in their natural environment based on listening and learning, the Orcalab has been slowly and carefully woven into the island around it.

Here and now, life orbits entirely around the whales - everywhere you walk a live-feed of sea sounds captured by a series of underwater microphones, plays. It is our first day here, and we have been blessed, visited by the orcas.

As the light dies, the rhythm of Hanson Island picks back up, with big smiles all around. We listen on the hydraphones to the calls, and their song is as mysterious as the dance earlier in the bay. Spiraling calls echo between the whales, eerie whistles that slip and scatter through the room, as I gaze into the flames in the wood heater. The spell cast by these great ocean voices lasts into the night, and hours are lulled away in the fire and song.

Paul is a grandfather who recently walked into my life, bringing with him a magical island, and a world of whales that sparked a deep passion for our oceans in me. It's up to us to speak up for the whales, the waters and all the creatures who have no voice in our human world, and to protect them from projects like the Enbridge Pipeline, so we can keep listening and learning to the voice of the wild.

www.orcalab.org
www.orca-live.net (to listen to the live-feed from the hydraphones)

Thank you so much Helena and Paul for your kind hospitality, great food, and happy spirits!