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I could feel the cold, icy water through my wetsuit. As my head went under it was as if someone turned off that warm California sun. It was like an ice cream headache from the outside. They kept the water chilled for the comfort of the whales, but this chill quickly brings on hypothermia in humans. As I kicked gently toward the center of the huge pool I remembered that this was my bright idea and everyone was here because they had confidence in me as a photographer to get outstanding photos of the killer whales and their trainers underwater.
For three years I had observed a special relationship between this unusual group of people, the trainers, and the mighty orcas. The bond between these two reflected a trust and admiration that I felt compelled to capture on film, and because most of this interaction occurred in the water, I lobbied long and hard to get permission to at least make an attemptto show the world what I had observed. Perhaps those in charge had observed the samething because we received approval for a photo session, so now the pressure was on to obtain photographic results that would convey our observations to the rest of the world. It was unheard of for anyone other than the trainers to be in the water with the whales, especially with Scuba (Self Contained Underwarter Breathing Apparatus) so I was elated when we received approval. Working with animals is difficult at best, even trained animals. They don’t always do exactly what’s expected. Because we would be underwater I wouldn’t be able to give directions so it was necessary to go over every detail before we started. Bud Krames and Joanne Hay were two of the trainers I had worked with to obtain some of the dynamic killer whale photos for Sea World’s advertising. Having watched them with the whales for so long and having worked with them before, I was more than a little impressed by their ablities, and happy that they were the trainers who would help mewith this project.
The photograph I could see in my minds eye was a silhouette of the whale and trainer together on the surface of the water taken from the bottom of the pool looking up. The most difficult part of this would be that anyone who looked at this photo must be able to see that it is definitely a killer whale and a person, even as a silhouette. If one cannot read "killer whale" when seeing the photo the idea would not work. I explained exactly what was needed at our preshoot meeting. Joanne must position herself nextto the whale in a graceful pose, legs together, toes pointed, etc. and it’s important thatshe touch the whale. They understood and we discussed where I would position myselfin the pool, then the whale and Joanne would swim to the center of the pool and strike a pose. It all sounded very simple. It may take a few minutes to get it right but they would try to make it work for me. They understood what I needed.
It was also important that I understand what they needed from me. I would be underwater and unable to hear any directions they may give so it was up to me to behave properly. The briefing I got from the trainers was to be calm at all times while in the water with the whales. Kandu was the whale chosen for this session. Bud told me that Kandu will bevery curious about me and want to find out who this new person is, especially because I would be using scuba. He said, "If she does come up to you, and she probably will, she might want to ‘mouth’ you a little. She may put her mouth on your arm or shoulder or leg, but she never bites down, she just ‘mouths’ you a little bit. Don’t worry, she won’t hurt you. The secret is to ‘be nothing.’ Don’t resist in any way, keep your arms against your body, don’t reach out to touch her, just ‘be nothing.’ If she nudges on you don’t resist. It’s important that you continue to ‘be nothing.’ None of this may happen but if it does, remember...’be nothing’." He wasn’t trying to frighten me, he was telling me of a situation that might occur. It was all very professional .As I reached the center of the pool I turned to look back at Kandu and tried to remember every word of Bud’s briefing. Killer whales are so impressive when viewed from the surface, but looking at Kandu underwater I was in awe of this animal and hoped that I would perform well. After all, I was in her element and there were no protective barriers between us. I poked my head above water to see if all was ready. Bud and I exchanged thumbs up and I headed to the bottom of the pool. I wore no flippers and about twenty pounds of extra weights so I would be heavy enough to walk around on the bottom and better position myself for the photo. It took a few minutes for Kandu and Joanne to get to the center. They kept drifting a little and I kept walking around the bottom to position myself. Through the viewfinder I could see the bright sun and two dark objects moving together. I wasn’t getting the image I had hoped for. Joanne would get into position but Kandu did not look anything like I had imagined. She looked more like the underside of a 747 with funny little wings. Then, almost magically, it all came together. It was wonderful watching this image come to life. They were finally still, Joanne stretched into a floating position with legs together and toes pointed. As she reached out to Kandu the whale rolled slightly to her side to reveal her dorsal fin. It was an unmistakable silhouette of a killer whale and a graceful trainer in a moment of loving acceptance. How beautiful ! I moved slightly to get the sun behind the whale and fired off several frames. This was an image I wanted to share with the world. This was an experience I would never forget. My spirit was soaring.
What happened next made this experience even more unforgettable.Kandu had quickly tired of just lying around on the surface while a total stranger stood atthe bottom of her pool. She decided to come on down and check me out. Thatglee I had felt in my heart only moments ago was vanishing. She was coming right at me,coasting, slowly advancing, getting bigger and bigger. The words came back to me. "Be Nothing." She floated up to me and gently nudged on my chest with her rostrum, then turned ever so slowly to reveal that huge right eye. There we were, a not-so-brave-anymore photographer and a killer whale at the bottom of the pool looking at each other. She probably was wondering why this human interloper's hear was beating so fast and so loud. There I was, eye-to-eye with one of the most beautiful and powerful animals in the world. I was being checked out by Shamu. What an opportunity! I stepped slowly back and raised my camera to get a picture of this. That’s when it happened. Kandu opened her mouth wide and came right at me. All I could see was her huge jaws and teeth, lots of ‘em. I could NOT be nothing. Instinctively I put my hand up on her rostrum and she began pushing me backward. I started stroking her with the one hand, clinging to my camera with the other, all the time thinking "nice whale, nice whale, please don’t do this".
I continued stroking her and she appeared to like that because she closed her mouth and became very still. After a while I stopped, stepped back again to get a closeup and she came at me again. The jaws, the huge teeth, pushing me around the bottom of the pool. I began rubbing her down again with one hand. She closed her jaws and moved right up against me. I could hear the underwater signal from the stage. The trainers were trying to recall her but she was too occupied with me to respond. I kept rubbing her and wondered what would happen next. How can I get out of thissituation? I had NOT done what the trainers had instructed me to do and now I was stuckhere with this huge animal and she was in complete control. Suddenly, she turned, kicked her tail flukes and headed to the surface leaving me in her wake. She returned tothe trainers and I immediately headed for the slide out area to get out of the pool. WhenI reached the surface I hurriedly placed the camera on the stage platform and attempted to hoist myself out of the water. At mid thrust Kandu siezed my right leg in her jaws and was holding me there at the edge. I couldn’t move. My leg felt as if it were in a gigantic vice. I froze, and didn’t move a muscle. I couldn’t. I wondered how much air I had left and thought that if she pulled me back under I would breathe slow, full breaths, relax and"be nothing." Bud and Joanne were both there discussing how to get Kandu to let go.
I was surprised by their calm demeanor because my thoughts were, "I’m in the jaws of a killer whale! Do something! Quick !
I’m not sure what they said or did to get Kandu to let go but suddenly she did and I pulled myself up out of the water. It was an adrenalin leap. What a relief! Bud asked me if I was ok. I told him yes, I was fine. He grinned, nodded his head and turned his attention to Kandu.
After checking to make sure my camera was ok I began to remove my scuba gear. I hadcatapulted myself out of the water with my scuba tank on and all those extra weights. Bud came over and asked me exactly what had happened down there. I told him and hegave me that grin again and explained that Kandu had just been playing with me and heasked if I would like to do another session. I gave him a humorous,"No, I don’t thinkso."
He understood what I had been through and tried to ease my apprehension. He said that I had represented something different to Kandu from her daily routine and she loves a good rub down. When she grabbed my leg it was just her way of saying, "Don’t get out,come on back, I was having fun with you and enjoying that rub down." Bud assured methat there was nothing menacing about this experience, and was serious about trying more pictures if I was up to it. Bud must have seen the reluctance in my face and said, "Jerry, put all your gear aside, leave your camera here and come on. We’ll have a quick session and I’ll prove to you that she’s not out to hurt you. If you don’t do this now you won’t be able to get back in the water with them (the whales). It’s a mental thing."
I thought for a moment and realized that Bud was right, of course. If Kandu wanted to hurt me she certainly could have at any time, but she didn’t, and if I was going to be successful at photographing killer whales underwater I would have to go through with this, and if there was anyone to trust in this situation it was Bud. I could see that Joanne had Kandu at the far end of the pool. Reluctantly, at Bud’sinsistence, I dove back into the cold water with no equipment, just my wet suit. Once inI listened carefully as Bud gave instructions. "Turn to your left and spread your legs, when she comes under you tighten your legs and hold on." I could see over my shoulderthat Joanne had sent the whale toward me. I had seen the trainers do this a thousand timesand sure enough, she came under me, I tightened my legs on her and there I was, I was riding Shamu around the pool. What a rush! What an exhilarating ride it was!
It didn’t end there. Bud had the whale do a number of behaviors with me in the water nextto her. One of them was turning in circles. As I turned, Kandu began turning next to me. As she rotated I looked over to see those big eyes looking at me. The big finish was the human hurdle. Kandu did a mighty leap over me at the center of the pool. She thenturned and swam to me, another pickup and I rode on her back around to the stage and ever so gently slipped off her back onto the edge of the pool.
"Bud, can I rub her down for that?"
"Yeah, go ahead."
This time Kandu received a happy rub down, with both hands, from a man who could not hold back the giggles. As a child I never had a BB gun, a red wagon or a pony. This last few minutes had made up for all those things. I was a kid again, and I had justdone something that very few kids in the world ever get to do. It’s something that mustnow be earned with literally years of training.
I went on to future photo sessions with the whales and some of my work turned out to be very good. The marketing and PR departments had a field day with some of the results. I will always be grateful to those wonderful animal caretakers because I had many more remarkable experiences with all kinds of animals while at Sea World, but this day wouldstand out as one of my best. I had fun, the photos were good and it was a great learning experience. I never again touched an animal while in the water. I had learned how to become "nothing."
Since my experience there, Sea World training has changed and become much more structured. People who swim with killer whales must prove themselves to be top notch trainers with years of experience before they even get a chance to swim with Shamu. Photographers are no longer allowed in the water with the whales. Underwater photosare taken through the glass at their new state-of-the-art facility. I was fortunate to beat Sea World at the right time, with the right trainers, and the right whale. I realize howlucky I am to have had this experience, how lucky I am to have this memory to carrywith me, and yes, I have the silhouette photo nicely framed, hanging on my wall athome. Whenever I enter that room, it never fails to bring a smile to my heart. ©
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