In Pursuit of the Orcas (2/3)

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

Celebrities of the animal kingdom

Orcas are the largest of the 35 species in the dolphin family. They can be as long as 31 feet, weigh as much as 8 tonnes, and have a healthy appetite to match their hefty frame. These voracios predators consume some 500 pounds of food each day. Besides fish, other prey includes sea birds and marine mammals.

When the herring and orcas made their debut in this fjord almost two decades ago, their arrival took the small town of Tysfjord by surprise . Word soon spread that hundreds of killers whales (Orcinus orca) were splashing about in this remote Norwegian fjord, and these black-backed, white-chested cetaceans became instant celebrities.

How it all came about

Orcas are found in all the world's oceans, from the frigid Arctic and Antarctic to warm tropical seas. Yet the opportunity to see so easily and close up such an enormous concentration of them en masse in a protected fjord is a major attraction to whale watchers. Last season an estimated 600-700 orcas showed up.

The whales come to feed on the world's largest concentration of spring-spawning herring, estimated at several million tons last year. Herring migration patterns change every 20-30 years, so the fish's arrival spawned both the tourism of whale watching and also a research project.

During the short season-October to January each year-thousands of tourists come from all over to view the orcas. During my visit I met several: a Swedish family who came because their 8-year-old son saw the movie Free Willy (about the quest for freedom of a captive orca), and a Dutchman who scaled Mount Everest.

Not everyone watches the orcas just for fun. The Norwegian killers whale project (NORCA) was established in 1987 to study orca ecology in Tysfjord and around the nearby islands of Lofoten and Vesteralen.

Vocabulary Focus

hefty (adj) ---large in amount, size and force

voracious (adj) ---very eager for something, especially a lot of food

en masse (adv) ---for a group to do something together and at the same time

scale (v) ---to climb up a steep surface, such as a wall or the side of a mountain, often using special equipment

Specialized Terms

cetacean (n) --- 海洋哺乳动物；鲸类动物 any of various types of mammal, such as the whale, that live in the sea like fish