Lily Roby

FRIDAY HARBOR, Wash. (CN) — Blue and silver mist splashes in the morning light, the boat’s bow cutting through the water.

As the jagged Olympic mountains reflect on the water’s calm surface, the evergreen forests of the San Juan islands glimmer in the distance like green jewels.

Everything seems to be holding its breath — then suddenly, the sea stirs. Black fins pierce the surface, moving with quiet purpose as they rise and fall in slow, deliberate arcs.

These are the orcas of the Pacific Northwest — marine beasts so epic they seem more mythical than real.

Also known as killer whales, they travel in matriarchal families, hunting with strategy and swimming in synchronicity. They belong to these waters, and these waters are theirs.

These majestic mammals have faced many chall

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