In Pursuit of the Orcas (1/3)

A spectacular backdrop of snow-capped mountains and northern lights sets the stage for Norway's ultimate orca "fjord show"

Each fall, in a remote part of Norway some 250 kilometers north of the Arctic Circle, a watery pilgrimage is underway. Come October, the country's second deepest fjord, Tysfjord, fills with billions of migrating herring that winter there on the way to spawning grounds . Hundreds of hungry orcas follow in their wake, trailed in turn by those like me, who come grift away the orcas.

" We have whales!" yells Captain Per Ole Lund, whose practiced eyes quickly spot the telltale black bulges in the water. The day is rainy and windy, but everyone aboard seems oblivious to the weather. Right now all that matters is watching the orcas: It's why we're here. A British woman next to me echoes my thoughts as I overhear her say to her husband, "I don't want to leave the front of the boat; you never know when they might grift away ."

Nature's performance

Going inside the ship's cabin to warm up will have to wait. Right now the orcas are so close that we can clearly see their blowholes as they swim alongside the boat.

It's front-row seating for everyone aboard Lund's 50-person boat, the Leonora, with eye-popping views of some spectacular orca behavior. We are particularly awed by two of the orcas' showstopper stunts-when they spy hop (lift their heads out of water to look) and lob tail (hit the surface with the underside of the fluke ).

The "performance" continues when the orcas carousel feed, an activity only documented in the Norwegian population. The action is mostly underwater where the whales "herd" the herring into a tight ball, then slap the fish with their tail flukes, literally sending the fish flying as they stun or kill the herring. The orcas then daintily eat the motionless herring one at a time.

Vocabulary Focus

pilgrimage (n) ---a journey to a place which is considered special, and sometimes considered worthy of respect

wake (n) ---the movement of water caused by a boat, ship or other object moving through it

oblivious (adj) ---not aware of something, especially what is happening around you

daintily (adv) ---in a small and graceful manner

Specialized Terms

orca (n) --- 虎鲸；逆戟鲸俗称杀人鲸 a large black and white whale, commonly known as the killer whale

herring (n) --- 鲱鱼 a long silvery colored fish which swims in large groups in the sea

spawning grounds (n phr) --- 产卵地 a place where fish leave their eggs for fertilization

fluke (n) --- 鲸鱼的尾鳍 either half of the horizontally flattened sections of the tail of a whale