ORCINUS ORCA Go to the next photo in this series

or return to the gallery of wood sculpture

or to the main page
The killer whale. I was once offshore the Pacific Northwest coast, paddling a cedar canoe built in Maine. Two killer whale scouts passed first. In the blink of an eye, the entire pod was just yards away, travelling south in the channel.

I took my paddle out of the water and stopped moving. I wasn't sure what would happen next, but the orcas were indifferent to me. They probably wouldn't eat chicken either.

This piece is a tribute to the art of the Indians of the northwest coast.