While some of us spend the morning catching up on e-mail etc., other need to head out early. Kevin and Samantha are going home to Alaska, and they invite us all to meet there two years from now. (Samantha, an acupuncturist, is also a former SeaWorld trainer, who appeared on several TV news shows in the days following the death of Brancheau last year.)

Howard picks Lori and me up at the Center for Whale Research, where I’ve been downloading some of the photos that ID the many orcas in their records. We collect David from Candace’s house, where he’s been out on the shore getting a final view of the orcas, and we drive over to Friday Harbor on the other side of the island. Later this afternoon, Howard will be giving a talk to a group of high-school students at the Whale Museum there.

Lori, David, and I meet Jeff and Michelle on the Victoria Clipper for the two-hour voyage back to Seattle. Jeff and Michelle are headed home to New Orleans, David to New York, Lori to Atlanta, and me to Southern Utah.

As I wait to board my flight, I’m gazing out of the window at the giant planes coming and going from the gates.

But in my mind’s eye, I’m still seeing orcas.

See Behind the Scenes at the Orca Meet-Up