Diving into the World of Orcas with Todd Thimios

Photo by Todd Thimios

For years, OCR has been honored to feature the underwater photography and films of Australian diver and photographer Todd Thimios. Through his stunning imagery, he has helped enrich our social media community’s understanding and connection to the ocean. Below is an edited excerpt from Todd’s book, Ultimate Dive Sites, where he shares his extraordinary experience beneath the waves with orcas:

“A close encounter with a pod of wild orcas is a dream for many divers. As the ocean’s apex predator, orcas are equally as graceful as they are powerful. While efficient at hunting prey, their ‘killer whale’ misnomer has made them widely feared, yet there’s never been a recorded attack on a human in the wild. Like their dolphin cousins, orcas travel in pods, but unlike dolphins, a male orca can weigh over six tonnes. Although globally distributed, orcas are rarely encountered; you could spend a lifetime underwater and never see one.

“Orcas are smart and their behaviour is fascinating to observe underwater. Each pod has a complex social order, with the oldest females running the show (female orcas can live to 90). These females control the hierarchy of the pod and the security of the young, who remain a part of their mother’s pod for their entire lives. The large male (bull) orcas tend to work the pod’s perimeters with an investigative nature while protecting the females. I vividly remember a time that I came face-to-face with a bull orca. Carefully sliding into the water, I’d hoped to observe a feeding pod from a distance. Immediately, the bull broke away from the pod and approached me head-on. He was about six metres (20ft) long with a dorsal fin towering at around 1.5m (5ft). His beauty and inquisitive nature had me mesmerised.

“Underwater, sound travels four times faster than through air, and orcas rely heavily on sound, especially while hunting. Once you’ve held your breath and dived under, you’ll know that orcas are nearby when you hear their clicks and whistles. It’s likely that they’ll know you’re there well before you can see them. Like bats, orcas make high-pitched noises, and then wait for an echo in order to assess how close something is. Personally, the sound of orcas communicating underwater is one of the loveliest sounds I’ve ever heard (and felt).

“While the excitement of diving with orcas, combined with the fairytale landscape of the Arctic sounds like a dream, the reality is that this experience is one best suited to seasoned divers. Picture this; sub-zero wind chill, freezing water, choppy seas, limited sunlight, and to top it off, the possibility that you won’t see any orcas. But the challenge is worth it. Not only are orcas the apex predator of the ocean, but diving with them in the Arctic is, in many ways, the pinnacle of all underwater experiences.”

Todd’s book, Ultimate Dive Sites, releases on January 29, 2025—preorder your copy today!