Serenading Whales?

It was nine years ago that we ventured up to San Juan Island for a most unusual event, one that peaked the imagination. Of course, much of the San Juan's can do that, but this was somehow beyond the islands' normal uniquenesses.


Have you ever serenaded a whale,  an Orca?


Well, that's what folk do once every year, gathering on the rocks at Lime Kiln Park on the West side of the Island. It all started eleven years ago with the City Cantabile Choir, Fred West maestro. Special speakers are lowered into the waters around this famous scratching site, at least famous to the Orca who scratch there on the rocky bottom, then the singing begins. Some times instrumental, some times by the choir, some times by everybody.

As the sun set over Vancouver Island on that clear, warm evening we joined with the choir . Some folk simply sat and gazed a cross the strait, the Salish Sea, others sketched and painted, and our sound echoed through the waters.

As  the evening grew cool, our enthusiasm started to fade with the sun. It was dusk, and despite our best choral efforts, the Orca were nowhere in sight. We had just clambered down from our rocky perch to head down the road to our car. Then a shout, "Here they come! They're coming! They're coming down, heading south!" And, lo, there they were, some way off the shoreline to be sure, but there. The music started up, the whales stopped their swim. They seemed to be listening. One spy hopped (to see who this strange group of sound making creatures were?). Then, after a few minutes milling around, again on their way South, perhaps to Cattle Point.

It was truly a magical moment for us, and perhaps for the Orca, who knows. Species singing to species. Awing. So cool.


We drove back to our island motel almost in silence, savoring the moment.


The 11th annual Orca Sing concert will be held this Sunday, June 19th, starting at 7:00 PM. Bring a flashlight and a $5 donation. Parking will be tight, so consider grabbing a bus from the ferry.

This year's concert will be dedicated to the wildlife and people of the Gulf of Mexico who suffered the devastation of the BP oil disaster.Orca Sing is sponsored by People For Puget Sound, Friends of the San Juans, The Whale Museum, American Cetacean Society--Puget Sound Chapter, The Whale Trail, Orca Network and the City Cantabile Choir. 

Hey, why not make this a whole weekend of activity while you're on the Island? Check out the Whale Museum, the book stores, and don't overlook the ice cream joint by the ferry dock!

You will never regret experiencing this. And who knows, the Orca may come again, and this time, perhaps, join you in the chorus?

Drowning Doesn't Look Like Drowning

An excellent article, espcially at this start of the season for boating, rafting, and swimming, by Mario Vittone.

The new captain jumped from the deck, fully dressed, and sprinted through the water. A former lifeguard, he kept his eyes on his victim as he headed straight for the couple swimming between their anchored sportfisher and the beach. "I think he thinks you're drowning," the husband said to his wife. They had been splashing each other and she had screamed but now they were just standing, neck-deep on the sand bar. "We're fine, what is he doing?" she asked, a little annoyed. "We're fine!" the husband yelled, waving him off, but his captain kept swimming hard. "Move!" he barked as he sprinted between the stunned owners. Directly behind them, not ten feet away, their nine-year-old daughter was drowning. Safely above the surface in the arms of the captain, she burst into tears, "Daddy!"

How did this captain know – from fifty feet away – what the father couldn't recognize from just ten? Drowning is not the violent, splashing, call for help that most people expect. The captain was trained to recognize drowning by experts and years of experience. The father, on the other hand, had learned what drowning looks like by watching television. If you spend time on or near the water (hint: that's all of us) then you should make sure that you and your crew knows what to look for whenever people enter the water. Until she cried a tearful, "Daddy," she hadn't made a sound.

As a former Coast Guard rescue swimmer, I wasn't surprised at all by this story. Drowning is almost always a deceptively quiet event. The waving, splashing, and yelling that dramatic conditioning (television) prepares us to look for, is rarely seen in real life.

The Instinctive Drowning Response – so named by Francesco A. Pia, Ph.D., is what people do to avoid actual or perceived suffocation in the water. And it does not look like most people expect. There is very little splashing, no waving, and no yelling or calls for help of any kind. To get an idea of just how quiet and undramatic from the surface drowning can be, consider this: It is the number two cause of accidental death in children, age 15 and under (just behind vehicle accidents) – of the approximately 750 children who will drown next year, about 375 of them will do so within 25 yards of a parent or other adult. In ten percent of those drownings, the adult will actually watch them do it, having no idea it is happening (source: CDC). Drowning does not look like drowning – Dr. Pia, in an article in the Coast Guard's On Scene Magazine, described the instinctive drowning response like this:

1. Except in rare circumstances, drowning people are physiologically unable to call out for help. The respiratory system was designed for breathing. Speech is the secondary or overlaid function. Breathing must be fulfilled, before speech occurs.
2. Drowning people's mouths alternately sink below and reappear above the surface of the water. The mouths of drowning people are not above the surface of the water long enough for them to exhale, inhale, and call out for help. When the drowning people's mouths are above the surface, they exhale and inhale quickly as their mouths start to sink below the surface of the water.
3. Drowning people cannot wave for help. Nature instinctively forces them to extend their arms laterally and press down on the water's surface. Pressing down on the surface of the water, permits drowning people to leverage their bodies so they can lift their mouths out of the water to breathe.
4. Throughout the Instinctive Drowning Response, drowning people cannot voluntarily control their arm movements. Physiologically, drowning people who are struggling on the surface of the water cannot stop drowning and perform voluntary movements such as waving for help, moving toward a rescuer, or reaching out for a piece of rescue equipment.
5. From beginning to end of the Instinctive Drowning Response people's bodies remain upright in the water, with no evidence of a supporting kick. Unless rescued by a trained lifeguard, these drowning people can only struggle on the surface of the water from 20 to 60 seconds before submersion occurs.

This doesn't mean that a person that is yelling for help and thrashing isn't in real trouble – they are experiencing aquatic distress. Not always present before the instinctive drowning response, aquatic distress doesn't last long – but unlike true drowning, these victims can still assist in their own rescue. They can grab lifelines, throw rings, etc.
Look for these other signs of drowning when persons are in the water:

• Head low in the water, mouth at water level
• Head tilted back with mouth open
• Eyes glassy and empty, unable to focus
• Eyes closed
• Hair over forehead or eyes
• Not using legs – Vertical
• Hyperventilating or gasping
• Trying to swim in a particular direction but not making headway
• Trying to roll over on the back
• Appear to be climbing an invisible ladder.

So if a crew member falls overboard and everything looks OK – don't be too sure. Sometimes the most common indication that someone is drowning is that they don't look like they're drowning. They may just look like they are treading water and looking up at the deck. One way to be sure? Ask them, "Are you alright?" If they can answer at all – they probably are. If they return a blank stare, you may have less than 30 seconds to get to them. And parents – children playing in the water make noise. When they get quiet, you get to them and find out why.

Mario Vittone writes on maritime safety with articles appearing in Yachting, Salt Water Sportsman, On Scene, Lifelines, He has also written for Reader’s Digest magazine.