Orca-live 2005 opens
After weeks of rainy, cloudy days, the sky cleared and the sun shone for the opening of the 6th season of Orca-live at 6pm PDT yesterday! Project director Soichi Ueda was on hand for the opening, as were OrcaLab’s 2005 assistants.
The world wide audience, some who had stayed up very late in their time zones, was very happy to see the colourful underwater sights of the kelp forest, including “spikey” the sea urchin, and to hear the underwater soundscape once more. One member exclaimed “I never thought I’d be so happy hearing boat noise!” after the audio streaming began. Soon, the boat noise faded and the harmonious sounds of orcas were heard, provoking almost audible sighs of relief from experienced members of the audience. Newcomers made their presence known too. One, from Minneapolis, exclaimed: “WOW! This is amazing. Thanks to a Google search I found this site. I’m not familiar with any of you, but I hope over the next few months I get to know some of you. That would be awesome. I’m Philip and I’m from Minneapolis. Thanks OL for this FANTASTIC site!” Later, after orcas had been seen swimming close to the surface camera at OrcaLab’s Cracroft Point video station, he chimed in again, saying “This is all so amazing. I have been sitting here glued to my computer for over an hour now. As stupid as this sounds, I feel like I have found a new home.”
Opening day of LIVE’05 faded to the golden purple hues of a glorious Johnstone Strait sunset reflecting on a mirror ocean, and as darkness grew, the sounds of the orcas continued.
www.orca-live.net will present a continuous webcast of streaming audio from OrcaLab’s hydrophone network, and video from numerous underwater and surface cameras throughout the summer and fall.
