ORCAS ON THE EDGE

IN SUMMER 2018, HUMANKIND experienced an unusual connection with another species. Tahlequah, an orca, was seen carrying her dead calf for 1,600km around the Salish Sea. Apparently grieving her youngster, she sacrificed feeding and compromised her own health.

Here is an apex predator struggling to flourish in what, on the surface, appears to be pristine wilderness

Headlines filled every major news outlet and social media carried outpourings of support for Tahlequah. Orcas, particularly the Southern Resident population – the well-studied group in the eastern North Pacific to which Tahlequah belongs – were in the spotlight, highlighting their precarious survival. Having experienced two decades of recovery following the 1974 ban on capturing orcas for marine parks, with numbers increasing from 71 to 98, the population has since shrunk to 74, a result of declining prey, pollution and disturbance from ocean traffic.

Here was an apex predator with an apparent sensitive side, struggling to flourish in what, on the surface, appears to be pristine wilderness. So, in August 2018, I went to see these iconic creatures for myself.

ANCOUVER ISLAND, NORTH-west Canada, is a lozenge of land that shelters the mainland from the whims of the Pacific Ocean. Nestled in its embrace