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Below is an entry to our 2022 Writing Competition by client Liz Newbronner, who says "I travelled to Norway in January this year for the Orcas, Humpbacks and Northern Lights Winter Arctic Cruise. It was a fantastic trip and there is so much I could write about, but I decided to focus on our first morning at sea, when we were lucky enough to see around 20 orcas mobbing two herring boats. It was a magical experience, both for the sight of the orcas and the amazing arctic light. I felt compelled to capture the experience in the form of a poem."


Orcas on an Arctic Morning

I wake
warm in the bowels of the ship
The blue arctic dawn
peeps through the tiny porthole

Above me
my cabin mate stirs
I climb out of my bunk
warm layers on, eager to meet the day

On deck
the ship is already awake
A few keen watchers
spread out across the icy bow

They peer
into the half light
Scanning the rolling sea
looking for a tell-tale fluke or fin

Far away
we see the bobbing lights
Two small fishing boats
in search of an elusive herring shoal

Close up
The orcas surround the bulging nets
Sleek black and white bodies
glistening in the floodlights and froth

Then calm
Catch in, the orcas circle away
Dipping and diving through the swell
On this rosy arctic morning


See our Writing Competition details to enter for yourself for a chance to win a holiday!

About the Author

Sara Frost

Sara Frost

Website and Marketing Manager
Sara works full time in Naturetrek's busy office as the Website and Marketing Manager. However, by training, she is a Zoologist, graduating from Newcastle University where she was also the president of the university's Zoological Society. Prior to working at Naturetrek she lived and worked in British Columbia, Canada, as a wildlife rehabilitator caring for Black Bears, Coyotes, River Otters and Raccoons on a daily basis. When she wasn't providing medical care to injured wildlife she could be found hiking in the mountains, photographing wildlife, howling with wolves and avoiding bears (usually successfully). On her return to the UK she moved to the Scottish Hebrides, where she spent three years working at sea as a wildlife guide, finding Minke Whales, Otters, dolphins and eagles for her guests on a daily basis! She also spent her summers as the Senior Wildlife Officer on a ship in the North Sea, collecting sightings data on whales and dolphins, and delivering marine biology lectures to guests.
Always keen to be involved with media, Sara has presented on both live radio and TV, has had her writing and photos published in multiple wildlife and travel magazines and has worked as a guide for Ray Mears and TV film crews for several natural history documentaries. A keen cetacean spotter, Sara specialises in leading Naturetrek's cruises in the Hebrides, Indonesia, the Maldives, Baja California and Arctic, as well as our holidays in the Azores.

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