Superpod 8 (2023) is now history. It was a beautiful week in Friday Harbor, Washington. The 2 days of seminars (Wednesday and Thursday) were presented/attended by orca researchers, authors, filmmakers and cetacean lovers from various countries and states across the USA.
Friday, during a small group whale watch tour through Maya’s Legacy Whale Watching, I experience two families of Biggs Orca with a wonderful group of Superpod attendees. Our tour guide, Sara Hysong-Shimazu, is an expert photographer and took many beautiful pictures so we could enjoy the orcas ‘fully in the moment’. Wow. WOW! Thanks for those pictures, Sara. My phone photos could in no way compare!
A super shout out to Caroline Saxon of the Whale Sanctuary Project. It is an honor to contribute to that excellent cause. You response to my inquiries are much appreciated and your help connecting me to Diane Fraleigh transformed my desire to attend Superpod 8 into reality. And Thank You Diane F for help with accommodations and getting me on that fabulous whale watch tour. It was not my first time with Maya’s Legacy and it won’t be last. They are amazing! BTW Diane, I reiterate: your presentation was professional, from the heart and fully spot-on.
I attended also hoping for, but not really expecting, a powerful prodding/inspiration for my 4th book, a prequel to The Vencello. Superpod 8 is mainly about Orca and updates on many years of anti-captivity efforts. The Vencello prequel will be about Brough, the sperm whale character most readers liked the best from The Vencello. Although I have had a working title for quite some time, full time work in the accounting/finance field has proven to be an obstacle to actually getting on with it. Now that I am retired, I have the time, but have lacked inspiration. As we all know, there is no shortage of soul-crushing bad news and I want a positive reading experience for this prequel. Thanks to travelling all the way to Friday Harbor in person, attending Superpod 8 presentations and being present on that amazing Maya tour, I have met inspiration in the flesh. Yes, the orca and the coming together of all of those cetacean lovers. But especially the amazing Oxana of Whale Jail fame. This author struggles to find the words to convey the impression Oxana has made in this short blog post, but I promise, I will find them in my next novel.
It was the best of the three Superpods I have attended (2016, 2018 and 2023). I hope others will be offered and they will be in a location that many orca-soulmates may attend.