Diver Finds a Fierce Orca and Notices a Damaged Fin

So, what happens when an experienced diver finds an orca in the wild? For Julian Dunggio, that answer only came after he noticed the orca’s fin was damaged.

The wind picked up, and it was clear that a storm was getting ready to blast the open sea. Julian’s stomach tightened. There wasn’t much else to do, however, so he took a deep breath and jumped in. 

Then, all of sudden, a fisherman saw a huge something floating only a few feet away. “Come back!” they tried to shout to Julain. It was no use, however, because Julian was out of earshot, way down below the surface.

He loved the ocean. As an experienced diver in the Gorontalo region of Indonesia, he jumped at the opportunity to work aboard boats giving tours and fishing trips to locals and tourists alike. 

Being so close to all the wonderful creatures of the sea was profoundly calming for Julian. It kept him centered. So, when he hopped onboard to join a fishing expedition one day, he did so in good spirits. Little did he know his life would change forever.

It quickly became apparent, however, that the weather forecast was dead wrong. Looking overhead, Julian and the others saw a large group of dark clouds rising over the horizon. They all gave a collective sigh of annoyance as they silently cursed the weather app’s failed predictions.

While turning around, however, a shape in the water caught Julian’s eye. He squinted to see further, and then heard a piercing noise coming from right under the boat. Everyone else heard it as well. 

Then, it moved. Julian immediately knew it wasn’t some kind of discarded machine or garbage – it was a sea creature. Furthermore, it was a creature with slow but powerful movements that brought their ship to a halt. Julian’s heart pounded inside his chest.

Would he discover a new creature? The thought courses through Julian’s mind as he double-checks his tank, snorkel, mask, and more. Before anyone could stop him, Julian followed that curiosity to its logical end: the ocean. He dived right in to investigate. 

By that time, however, Julian was already a few meters deep. Oblivious to the potential danger above, he was focused on unraveling the mystery below. As he swam closer to the murky mass, he tried to stay calm. Then, he let out a gasp.

Understandably, Julian froze. He rethought where he was and what he was doing. Orcas were not only dangerous, but they were also extremely dangerous – especially when they were threatened. When thinking of his next move, Julian caught a glimpse of the orca’s dorsal fin.

Julian swam closer to get some answers. It was hard, though. With marks like that on such a powerful creature, Julian knew that something more dangerous than a killer whale was nearby. His fight-or-flight instincts told him to flee by swimming as far and as fast away as possible.

The poor orca could hardly move, and this was clearly putting it under a (pardon the pun) boatload of stress. So, Julian jumped into rescue mode. He latched onto one of the fishing lines and tried to untangle it. The killer whale snapped its jaw in retaliation.

When backing off, Julian noticed that the orca wasn’t the only thing moving back and forth – the boat was too! He swam to the surface to see what was going on. “Julian!” they shouted, excited to see him safe. However, danger was right around the corner.

Things were getting serious, and the boat risked capsizing with these monstrous waves. In such a tiny vessel, they were unlikely to make it out of a storm this size, so they wanted to get back to land as soon as possible. 

Then, three hands went up, and three volunteers stepped forward. Julian told them to go grab some knives and come back. Although slightly confused, they followed his directions and came back to see what step #2 would be.

Everyone jumped in the water and swam toward the orca. By now, the whale had already thrashed for a while, so it was visibly exhausted. This was great news for the rescue crew because the orca was far less threatening.

The crew grabbed some of the fishing lines and began to untangle them slowly. It was delicate work, and the orca wasn’t a cooperative patient. Instead, it was furiously blowing water everywhere to try and scare the crew. Although they stayed, it was hard to see clearly.

Furthermore, the storm that pushed them to call it a day was getting worse. The winds picked up, and the waves got choppy. In an attempt to lower the orca’s stress, Julian reached his hand out in a risky but necessary gesture.

That came in the form of petting the orca’s body. While doing that, Julian kept staring into the orca’s terrifying but awe-inspiring eyes to make it clear that he and the crew weren’t there to hurt the orca. Instead, they were there to help.

At one point, the previously thrashing orca surprised everyone by becoming completely still. Julian noticed the orca’s eyes soften, relax, and blink. Clearly, Julian had an immensely calming effect on the stressed orca. Well, at least that’s what he thought at first. 

Once free, two of the crew immediately swam as fast as they could toward the boat – they were taking no chances with such a deadly creature nearby. Julian and another man, however, waited around to see what the orca would do.

The fishing line was untangled, so why wasn’t the orca swimming away? The question stopped Julian in his tracks. Although he knew the crew needed to get back on shore before the storm ruined the boat, he also knew that he wanted the orca to swim away freely.

On the boat were all the crew members who helped Julian free the orca. They all wanted to get out of the storm as soon as possible. In the sea was the orca itself, which Julian felt an overwhelming connection to. He couldn’t leave the orca behind.

Julian made the hard decision to go back into the water. So, after grabbing a giant stick from the stern of the boat, he swam to the orca and nudged it a bit.

That little tail swing eventually grew large enough that the orca’s entire body began to sway back and forth. Then, it swam off. Julian was overwhelmed with joy as he made his way back to the surface and onto the boat. But would the boat make it back to shore on time?

Julian managed to demonstrate that all it takes is a little bravery and strategic thinking to overcome tough situations. For Julian, bravery meant diving right up to the orca, and strategic thinking was all about enlisting the help of the crew to free the trapped creature.

Rahman summed up their motivations succinctly, saying that killing a strange animal in the sea would result in bad luck for the killer and his family. “This is our ancestor’s message,” Rahman repeated. That message would soon be heard by many more people.

The group explained how the fisherman made the difficult decision to rip their fishing net – which had about two tonnes of fish inside – in order to ensure the orca’s rescue. People from all over praised the brave divers. Julian used the extra attention to share a message he believed in.

Not only are they majestic and awe-inspiring, but they’re also fast swimmers with an average speed of 56 km per hour! On top of that, people might be surprised to learn that orcas are also part of the dolphin family.

For example, scientists using drones to record orca behavior found something surprising: they seem to have “close friendships.” Not only do they prefer certain orcas over others, but the ones they choose are usually also the same sex and age as them.