Whale Dreams and Visions

Erich Hoyt spent ten summers (in the 1970s and 1980s) living among orcas off Vancouver Island, Canada. His group of researchers grew close to one particular pod of whales. They were with the whales day in and day out, and were often awakened by them three to four times a night as the whales swam by their camp. One of the beloved elders of the pod was an old female named Stubbs, so called because of her stubby, mangled dorsal fin. She had probably once had a boating accident, a too-close encounter with a boat propeller. For several days, the researchers had not seen Stubbs with the rest of the pod and were concerned about her disappearance. There seemed a hole in their days...something missing. An unexpected dream helped fill that hole, as dreams often do.

We are on the beach watching Stubbs’ full pod, except for Stubbs, navigate a narrow passage. I remember walking into the water, blind at first, trying to catch some whale’s eye. It was the way one walks into a crowd, looking for a sign of welcome.

I see this cow. Our eyes meet. We touch. The experience of touching seems to make all words unnecessary. Whales and people are standing around now, as if at a party. I make my way over to Sturdy (one of the males in the pod). Dark, formidable, massive, Sturdy is yet friendly.

“You know the whale we call Stubbs?” I ask, hesitantly. “What is your name for her?”

Sturdy smiles. “Oh yes, she is Smirilak.”

“Where is she?” I ask..“ Why isn’t she with you?”

Sturdy points down and over toward the side of the narrow passage to the beach. I don’t understand the gesture.

“She died?”

Sturdy only nods.

I look down, feeling upset. Sturdy is puzzled at my reaction. It makes no sense to him that I should feel badly about her death. He shrugs. “She is dead, that’s all.”

I say nothing but I am sad, thinking of Stubbs’ death. Yet I am also relieved to know. Sturdy makes it easier to accept.

Seeing the whales, talking with them, I feel alive, completely aware at this moment. I tell myself this is really happening; it is not a dream. Between men and whales, all things suddenly seem possible.

With permission from Orca: The Whale Called Killer by Erich Hoyt

back to top >> book two