A number of years ago, my sister, aunt and I rented a small boat to scatter my father's ashes around this island he held very dear...as did the whole family, except my sister, who was only 2 when CIL closed access to it. It had been the epitome of a "company town," but the company treated all of their employees very, very well. Anyway, it was a no-brainer as to where we were going to do this.
It was a gorgeous summer day, and the sea was like glass. About 2*3 of the way from the marina to the island, a pod of orcas kind of levitated to the surface, slowly rising , loosely surrounding the boat. It was completely obvious that any one of them could flip the boat without any effort at all, but we were pretty calm. The nearest one wasn't close enough to reach out and touch, but I could have with one of the oars. Encountering orcas around here (SW corner of BC) is not exactly rare, and no one has ever been harmed, to my knowledge.
It was more beautiful, and a touch magical, than anything else. At least, to me, and it's a fabulous memory.
We thought it was a send-off for my father, or some other auspicious action, but had never seriously considered the close proximity of a very, very cold swim. Until I first read of the phenomenon in the article, about 2 years ago. So removed from the moment, it's just "Huh. Glad that didn't happen."
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