This past summer I was in Alaska and a little coastal town called Suad.

A gorgeous spot on the keen eye peninsula tucked between the oceans and some giant glacier-covered mountains.

I was there looking for someone to talk to about Grey Whale migration.

So I asked a friend in town for ideas and he says,

I don't know many Grey Whale people but there's a guy named Dan you should meet.

He told me that Dan was the killer whale man in town.

Orcas might as well I thought so we gave Dan a call and met him at my friend's place to chat.

Dan arrived with a phone full of Orcas sounds.

Let's just say what I heard grabbed me right away.

I've heard the sound of Orcas and other whales before mostly on TV documentaries but these were different.

All kinds of unusual noises were coming out of his phone.

It was like these Orcas were talking.

From a mile away you can know which family it is and so it's kind of like Christmas.

Like opening the package or what's in here and putting down that hydrophone and knowing which pods are around.

As he played them Dan told me there's a lot more going on in these clicks and whistles than you might think.

How their dialects, their languages evolve and even become part of Orcas family culture that's passed down.

I wanted to learn more.

Man their ceremonies are beautiful.

Their dances and songs are beautiful.

They represent so much.

Jay Julius is a tribal member near where I live in the Pacific Northwest and from his perspective there's something deeper going on in the conversations among these Orcas families.

In all honesty and all reality Chris, it's a story of grief.

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