Orca Boy was inspired by the plight of real orcas. It is a wholesome heartwarming novel highlighting the actions one teenager takes in saving a juvenile orca from capture. Orcas are the undisputed top predators on earth, and rulers of the ocean, and yet they have managed to create a soft spot endearing them to humans, their only real enemy.
Reading Orca Boy will make you a believer that one compassionate young person doing what he knows is right, makes a difference.
Orca Boy begins when a young orca (Pepper) gets tangled in a fishing net. Her mother brings her to Whale Cove - the one place a human helped her many years earlier. Josh, our 17-year-old hero befriends Pepper and saves her life, but in so doing, he runs afoul of federal law. Misguided government agents swarm in to arrest Josh and trap Pepper.
On the run in a kayak, and hiding his playful orca friend, he doesn't have much more than his smart phone and a near genius wit. Josh rallies the local "Save the Whales" group to mount protests at the Fish and Game office locally and in Seattle drawing national attention and media scrutiny to the little island town of Friday Harbor, WA. He also uncovers corruption and an orca poaching operation that targets him for death.
His kayak is discovered run down and destroyed five miles offshore, the Coast Guard mounts a search to no avail, and the police discover one of the Fish and Game boats has suspicious scratches and paint marks.
Josh is not alone, he has help from Sammie, the kayaker sailing instructor girl next door, and her Golden Lab that becomes Pepper's unlikely favorite playmate.
San Juan County Sheriff, Detective Danny O'Brien follows the trail of forensic evidence tracking those responsible, but Josh has already secretly hacked bank computers following the money trail to a memory care facility where a past orca researcher resides.
Reading Orca Boy immerses you in the San Juan Islands and tugs at your feelings.
About the Author: The author has written and published, "San Juan Islands Cruise Guide" (2014 Amazon) A Boaters Handbook for Cruising the Islands. He also maintains an advice web site, www.sailingthesanjuans.com, promoting sailing and boating the San Juan's. He used his knowledge of the area and the local orca population to craft Orca Boy into an action packed story of recognizable backdrops and authentic depictions of ferries, kayaking, dangerous waterways, marine life, and the bustling waterfront esplanade at Friday Harbor WA.
Reading Orca Boy will transport you to the San Juans.
