I’m from Vancouver Island, which is nice. When I moved to California a few years ago, whenever I saw a dolphin in the line up, I’d freak out in the same way a kid freaks out when they find out they’re finally going to Disneyland. They’re amazing to see. I still freak out, in fact, only a little more quietly now. No one from here seems to care all that much, which is odd, but it makes sense. It’s a fairly common occurrence, and if every surfer started squealing like a 5 year old girl at a birthday party every time a dolphin showed up, it would get old pretty fast.
It’s funny, though: people here think of orcas differently than they do on Vancouver Island. There, while not as common as dolphins in California, killer whales do cruise outside of the line up every now and then. No one’s scared, and no one (that I know, at least) even considers the possibility of an orca attack. As far as I know, there has never been a fatal attack on a human by a killer whale in the wild. SeaWorld is a different story–but that’s because being stuck in a tiny pool probably ain’t too great for a wild animal’s psyche. But many in California seem to be afraid of them. Maybe that’s because one doesn’t ever see orcas in California, or maybe it’s because Blackfish was a little more popular here. I don’t know. All this to say that killer whales are awesome, and seeing them in the wild is even more awesome.
