Each year, thousands of people fascinated by the orcas intelligence, wildness and history, embark on whale-watching cruises hoping to catch a glimpse of one. To find out more about the appeal of these gentle giants - formerly known as killer whales - Douglas Hand travelled to the Pacific Northwest, whose waters the orcas call home. There he spent some time with the people who have been closest to the whales: marine biologist and orca census-taker Ken Balcolm, controversial researcher Paul Spong, and the indigenous people who appear to take the complexity of this great mammal for granted. Along the way, Hand describes in detail the orcas natural history, communication and behavioural patterns, and his own personal observations.