Finding Hvaldimir
In November 2019 our team were sent to Norway with the goal of documenting Orcas hunting in the Arctic fjords. After landing in Tromsø, we boarded the mother ship and steamed north into the Arctic.
Our days were spent in think 7mm open cell wetsuits on board small ribs, chasing down scattered pods of Orca. The days were short (and cold), around 4 hours, with the sun barely making it above the horizon.
We searched the fjords for days and managed to jump in on some passing Orca which came up to investigate us divers. The Orca passes were brief and with limited daylight, we were under pressure to deliver.
Thankfully we managed a few encounters including hopping in with a big bull feeding off the back of a fishing boat as it pulled its nets in.
The highlight of the trip was by far our run in with a Beluga whale which seemed more interested in us than we were in it.
We had called it a day when we noticed a shiny object under the surface near shore. Luckily we had a tiny window of light left and some reserve camera battery power for one last swim that day. A truly unique experience.
We lucked out the one evening with a clear sky and watched the Aurora Borealis dance from the deck of our boat. I did my best to capture the motion of the display on a timelapse from the stern of the ship. However a boat swinging on anchor is no easy place for a timelapse.
The arctic is a place of incredible beauty that I wish to revisit at some point in my life. What a privilege it was to witness the dance of the Northern Lights and encounter the resilient wildlife that calls this place home.
