Morgan

It was heartening at the recent BLUE ocean film festival to see conference delegates attaching FREE MORGAN decals to their name badges.

At one of the sessions, Jean-Michel Cousteau declared he would be at the hearing on November 1, and stated, "We need to get off our ass and campaign as far as we can, with as many people as we can, to convince the Judges. . .” Hard to argue with that rhetoric, really :)

Morgan has her own Facebook page. Let's face it, right now, separated from her family, she needs all the friends she can get. You can show your support, donate, or if you live in Europe, perhaps consider attending the November 1 hearing.

Morgan: the story

Separated, somehow from her Norwegian family, hungry and alone, humans in the Netherlands sought to intervene. They applied for a permit to rehabilitate the youngster, and return her to her family. Then they broke the promise they made to her, and now she's in a theme park, being trained to entertain. On November 1, a hearing will be held to hear her case - investigate the rules broken by keeping her in captivity, transporting her from Amsterdam to Tenerife and the judge's previous ruling that this was all permissible under the law (on who's planet?)

Detractors will claim that "Free Willy" doesn't work, but that's simply not true. Keiko, the whale who captured everyone's hearts swam in the wild for many years before succumbing to pneumonia. More recently, Springer, found in very similar circumstances to Morgan was successfully returned to her family and was seen this summer off the coast of British Columbia according to the dedicated folks at Orca Lab.

Swimming with Orca

I had the privilege of meeting Ingrid at the BLUE Ocean Film Festival this week. I was truly inspired by her determination to work with New Zealand orca, and after reading her book, even more impressed with her tenacity and spirit.

If you ever had any doubt that you can't follow your passion and make it your work, this is a book for you. I'm going to keep it on my nightstand as a daily reminder that hard work and perseverance and dogged determination can win the day. The Orca Research Trust is an amazing accomplishment, not to mention getting this orca recognized as under threat. I'm sure I'll return to Ingrid's work many, many times.

O-K in the Northern territory

Johnstone Strait has been in my psyche for as long as I can remember. The Northern Residents, the rubbing beaches, the classic scenery of the Pacific Northwest. Though I really didn't have time for a trip  to the north of Vancouver Island, I couldn't leave without visiting. And, after all, the A pod call is my all time favorite - hel-lo.

Nature at its best, does it's own thing, and K-pod was making a somewhat uncustomary traverse through the Strait at the end of my 7-hour ocean voyage. Yes, the whales I'd seen the previous two days out of Sidney. Yes, I saw my first bear and yes I saw Transients, but oh, for A pod, who were lingering up by Telegraph Cove and too far for us on this such brief moment in the life of the leviathans. Hard not to be content with what I saw, and yet, as always with humans, we always want more. Next time A pod.