Linus Svensson’s deep respect for orca whales started someplace across the age of seven. After noticing his fascination with a pop-up e book centered round whales and dolphins, his mom introduced him to the pure historical past museum in Gothenburg, a metropolis on the west coast of Sweden with deep roots within the industrial fishing business. On the time, the museum had an exhibit that includes full-scale orca whales.
“I used to be so fascinated,” Svensson says. “Later she instructed me that I used to be roughly quiet the entire time we had been on the museum, and I’d simply stroll round these whales. She instructed me that sooner or later we might go and see these whales in Norway, as a result of they stay there — she’d learn the signal.”
For a 7-year-old, it felt like a lofty aim. One can journey from Sweden to Norway in lower than an hour’s time on a aircraft, however to journey after which to time it completely to simply catch a glimpse of a terrific black dorsal fin slicing a path by way of the water — it felt massive. However with every passing 12 months, Svensson’s dream appeared an increasing number of attainable.
When he began swim faculty, he rapidly realized he most popular swimming totally submerged in water. Opposite to guidelines most mother and father should set when swim classes start, Svensson’s father needed to discount to get his son to swim along with his head above the floor. Round age 13 or 14, he started freediving courses, and right here is the place Svensson’s unique ambition to see an orca whale from above the floor started to morph into one thing else. Quick ahead a number of a long time from a boy with an affinity for killer whales to a person with that very same ardour plus a burgeoning images profession and a few aggressive freediving expertise, and Svensson felt able to not solely search out but additionally to doc the animal he’d dreamed of for thus lengthy.
Within the fall 2019, Svensson, alongside along with his father and some pals, took a scouting journey to the deep, darkish fjords on the north coast of Norway. It wanted to be within the October-November timeframe as a result of that’s the candy spot within the calendar 12 months the place herring are spawning, orcas are gathering to hunt them, and there’s nonetheless sufficient daylight left above the Arctic Circle to have the ability to see all of it occur.
The climate circumstances in 2019 had been arduous, says Svensson, making it tough for a lot of underwater photographs, nevertheless it served as the proper scouting journey.
“It’s actually about attending to know their conduct, to have the ability to sneak into the water with out disturbing their actions,” he says. The group deliberate a three-week journey within the fall of 2020, understanding they’d want to remain for some time to make sure no less than a number of days with good circumstances for getting within the water with the orcas. Earlier than they left, Svensson contacted Garmin to gauge curiosity in imagery captured on the expedition. Quickly after, his group set off on the lengthy, wintry journey from the southern a part of Sweden to the northern tip of Norway, hauling with them a full vary of Garmin-supplied merchandise to assist the mission — and leaving of their wake a artistic group very desirous to see the ensuing footage.
It didn’t take lengthy for Svensson and group to really feel they had been onto one thing.
“We had simply received the boat into the water, and we had been able to exit within the ocean. It simply took a couple of minutes, and we noticed the primary humpback whales,” Svensson says. “The sensation once we noticed a pod of humpback whales — it was 4 of them mainly blowing air from their blowholes, plenty of air, and it felt like some form of fireworks within the horizon giving us a welcome.”
It took a number of extra days of scouting the fjords, monitoring fishing experiences, and checking them in opposition to the sonar and navigation information on their Garmin GPSMAP® 8612xsv earlier than the group was in a position to find the telltale pods of fish.
“We really had been capable of finding some massive colleges of herring, so we realized that the orcas may be within the environment or someplace shut by,” Svensson says. “After which it simply took a few minutes earlier than we noticed the primary fins within the horizon.”
As is sensible with most wildlife of their pure habitat, an commentary interval was obligatory earlier than diving proper in.
“We spent perhaps a number of days simply watching them within the distance to see how they behave and to not rush something, however the first time once I slid into the water and I used to be in a position to see the pod of orcas within the additional distance transferring in our path — to slip into the water and see these massive fins getting nearer and nearer to you after which dive down into these roughly bottomless fjords, with nearly darkish water, and then you definitely see them beneath, that coronary heart feeling you get when they’re swimming in direction of you is simply … it’s arduous to explain, nevertheless it was a magic feeling.”
He estimates that at one level he was solely 3 or 4 meters away from the closest whale.
“A few instances they got here up very, very shut and simply had a fast look,” he says, though more often than not spent underwater was dedicated to watching the orcas hunt herring.
“They only slide by way of the water,” he says. “Once you see small fish, you see them use their fins. They transfer very, in a short time, however alternatively you see the fin transferring very, in a short time. However these big whales — [the fins] transfer fairly slowly, however they transfer so quick. Their swimming method is completely one thing else.”
It took a little bit of trial and error to find out get one of the best photographs. “And also you higher pay respect to the animals as effectively,” Svensson says. “So we form of observed that when they’re transferring and swimming, it is not sensible to go within the water, as a result of they’re swimming a lot sooner than us. Our alternative to get into the water was roughly near feeding, as a result of then they’re too occupied doing one thing else, they usually don’t actually care about us. They only take a look at us — what’s he doing right here? — after which they’ll swim and transfer on. In order that was the important thing to success — to allow them to behave and simply watch for these moments.”
Persistence was additionally vital.
“I can’t actually say what number of dives I did down in these black fjords seeing completely nothing,” he says. “I didn’t see any herring, and I didn’t see anything — simply pure black water.”
To assist guarantee he was diving safely, Svensson wore a Garmin Descent™ Mk2 dive watch.
“Once you’re diving in these sorts of circumstances — I’ve all the time used a dive watch, however I’ve by no means used one thing much like this,” he says. “— it’s actually a sport changer by way of the way in which I work with a diving wearable. Once you dive in roughly full darkness, me as an underwater photographer, I need to deal with my digicam and my environment. As a result of to start with, I need to discover orcas after which I would like to have the ability to seize the photographs on my digicam. And doing that once you’re working in an setting the place you have got completely no seen issues to have a look at — I imply you’re standing down in pitch black, and also you don’t know when you’re in 10 meters, 20 meters, 25 meters — that actually might be a security concern.”
Svensson is educated to dive comfortably to depths of 25-30 meters after which up once more, so understanding precisely how deep he’s always is vital.
“Throughout this expedition, I put completely different sorts of depth alarms, in order quickly as I reached 15 meters it began to vibrate, as a result of then I do know ‘Oh, I’ve a number of meters down,’ after which I had one other one to actually say, ‘Don’t go additional down than this.’ And it vibrated so I didn’t actually have to have a look at my pc after which I might focus on different issues. So it’s a very nice characteristic by way of a diving watch, and a characteristic that perhaps not lots of people take into consideration, however I actually loved it.”
The GPS on the Descent MK2 additionally allowed him to trace precisely the place the whales had been looking.
“I’ve seen these sorts of moments on Nationwide Geographic the place orca hunt round herring pods,” Svensson says. “I’ve seen that form of factor, and that’s one thing that I began to assume, ‘Wow, might I probably expertise that myself?’ When that really occurred, I used to be on the floor. I couldn’t see something; it was simply pitch black watching down. It was most likely 150 meters-deep water, and it was pitch black down there, however I heard them, and I noticed some exercise within the air. There have been plenty of birds flying round, so I knew there was one thing happening beneath me.”
He wasted no time diving in.
“I began to swim down, and I swam all the way down to perhaps 20-25 meters of depth, after which I noticed these white spots on the orcas, as a result of that’s the very first thing you see underwater. I noticed that after which I noticed an enormous, completely big faculty of herring, pulling them tighter and tighter collectively, bringing them to the floor to have the ability to seize a few of them. It was so superb to see their teamwork and the way they work collectively to pick herring one after the other.”
As one may anticipate, there are a number of security elements to contemplate when one travels to distant elements of Norway in freezing temperatures to free dive with killer whales as they’re within the means of catching their dinner.
“I’m the form of man that I need to do expeditions, however I need to be ready,” Svensson says. “I need to have been pondering by way of, ‘Effectively, if that occurs, I would like to have the ability to try this, and if that occurs, I would like to have the ability to try this.’” It’s that preparedness side that he loves concerning the Garmin inReach® satellite tv for pc commuicator1. Whereas he famous the advantage of redundancy in case one thing had been to occur with the GPSMAP 8612xsv and navigational assist was wanted, what he actually preferred about inReach was the peace of thoughts.
“The captain had one all the time strapped into his life jacket, and the deck hand had one too, so we all the time knew that we had communication alternatives, and we had been in a position to contact authorities if one thing dangerous occurred,” he says. “To me, this type of factor is as important as a life jacket and a life raft in a ship. I imply, it’s obligatory.”
“One other security factor we had on board was the AIS™ 800 transceiver system along with the VHF 115 marine radio. If you end up working or if you’re on the ocean above the Arctic Circle in November, you understand that you’ve got perhaps not even hours of daylight. You hardly even see the solar. It’s hardly over the horizon in any respect,” he says.
“We already know that we now have to have the ability to be out on the ocean in roughly full darkness, and on this space there are usually not solely orcas that love herring — plenty of fishing vessels try this too. There’s plenty of exercise on the fjords. So actually it’s for security, as a result of then we will see different vessels, and we will see what they’re doing, and we will additionally talk with them.”
Reflecting on the journey now that he’s safely returned dwelling to Sweden, Svensson isn’t positive if this type of expedition would’ve been attainable with out the developments in expertise. Underwater digicam talents apart, it’s the security side of the Garmin expertise that helped him to really feel geared up for an enterprise corresponding to this.
“Even when it’s harsh circumstances, so as to add on all these sorts of applied sciences, it provides you a sense that you’ve got management,” he says. “I want that management to have the ability to work as a photographer in this type of setting and to have the ability to loosen up and to be artistic. If I’m wired about navigation and dealing on the boat and so forth, I wouldn’t have the ability to focus on creating pictures. I’d be specializing in doing plenty of different stuff. On this case, the expertise actually helped me as a photographer.”
So what’s subsequent for Svensson — what does one do when a lifelong childhood dream has been achieved, and much past what his 7-year-old self might have imagined at that? Subsequent up, he says, is a visit out to the wilds of Sweden’s mountains to catch the autumn colours along with his four-legged finest good friend. However past that, you’ll should comply with alongside to seek out out.
1Some jurisdictions regulate or prohibit using satellite tv for pc communication gadgets. It’s the accountability of the person to know and comply with all relevant legal guidelines within the jurisdictions the place the gadget is meant for use.
