Writing Competition – Orcas on an Arctic Morning

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!