One Man’s Encounters with the Elusive Whale

Ten meters underwater, the photographer Todd Thimios looked for the massive bull orca he’d seen on earlier dives. He was on his annual journey to Arctic Norway, and temperatures within the water plunged to 6 levels. He acknowledged the orca instantly when he noticed his crooked dorsal fin slipped into view. Thimios held his breath as they got here head to head.

For the final decade, Thimios has assisted in main underwater expeditions, together with these catering to superyacht homeowners. By means of that work, he has educated billionaire vacationers in regards to the significance of conserving marine environments. He describes his job as a mix of “dive teacher/underwater photographer/submersible pilot.”

“To have the ability to journey the world and expertise totally different underwater environments has been each an ideal honor and a privilege,” he tells me. “I feel, to this present day, that my favourite areas to dive world wide have been the Galapagos, Costa Rica, and at residence in Australia.”

Nonetheless, even amongst all of the locations he’s seen, Arctic Norway occupies a singular place in his life and profession, inspiring a ardour for orca pictures. On his first go to, years in the past, he didn’t see any orcas, however the journey itself lingers in his reminiscence. “I completely fell in love with the wild setting of the Arctic,” he explains. “The rawness and sweetness have been unparalleled.”

Over subsequent years, he discovered extra in regards to the orcas, their behaviors, and their favourite spots. Within the wild, these animals face quite a few threats, together with the depletion of their meals sources (from industrial fishing) and ocean air pollution. Noise air pollution from boats, oil drilling, and different human actions may intervene with their modes of communication. Reside captures—many carried out within the Nineteen Sixties—have additionally left lasting scars on whale populations.

Thimios, who’s enthusiastic about conservation in addition to orca pictures, follows a code of ethics. “It’s actually vital to indicate respect when making an attempt to dive with cetaceans,” the photographer continues. “Letting them management the encounter is paramount—-keeping a secure and non-threatening distance. This not solely permits the orcas to really feel secure, however it additionally permits them to behave in a pure method.”

Repeatedly, he’s discovered himself in awe of the whales’ intelligence. As he defined in a current essay for Dive Magazine, orcas have been a continuing in Thimios’s life. He met his spouse, Melissa, on Instagram after she noticed one among his pictures from Norway. They journey the world collectively now. Their younger daughter, Piper Pearl, loves the ocean, and he desires of introducing her to the orcas when she’s older.

Thimios understands that getting the prospect to follow orca pictures additionally means surrendering himself to the wild whims of the ocean. “With water temperatures round 5 levels Celsius and wind chills beneath zero, diving within the Arctic is extremely chilly and harsh and undoubtedly not for the faint-hearted,” the artist admits. “Discovering orcas is not at all assured, however while you do, it’s magical.”

Take, for instance, that huge bull orca with the crooked fin. By the point they met, Thimios was already ten meters deep. “By means of the darkness of the deep fjords, we took one another unexpectedly,” he tells me. “He slowly approached me till he was solely centimeters away, with curiosity and a wierd method of pleasure. I keep in mind this encounter so vividly: his huge dimension, energy, and beauty.”