Our first visitor for the day was a brave little New Zealand fur seal who twirled around in circles right beside the boat weaving between the orca before deciding it might be a good idea to make a quick getaway! This was a wise decision as the orca were in fact on the hunt! The senior members of the pod seemed to leave the youngsters near the vessel as they left to assist the hunting bulls! Two calves (machi and sachi) made up the group of 5-6 young orca which continued to make close passes both alongside and beneath the boat, using the vessel as a safe refuge! Over 10 minutes later two large females charged back towards the vessel with large chunks of meat in their mouth. The calves roared over to the mothers as the orca passed the meat between one another whilst turning on their pectoral side to check us out as we cheered and screamed! The playful behaviour progressed for over 45 minutes as the adults played with their young! Orca are such beautiful creatures when their bellies are full and they’re ready to play!
Today we were lucky to have a group of hardcore twitchers (bird lovers) on board with us! The excitement and passion involved with every rare or unusual bird sighting was definitely on par with our crew when they come across an orca! The customers were equally entertained and educated throughout the day that’s for sure. The twitchers were more than happy with their rare finds today, from Cory’s Shearwater (first record in Aus), Southern Royal Albatross (rare in WA), Streaked Shearwater (rare on SW of WA), Fairy Prion (unusual off Bremer) and a Sabine’s Gull (7th sighting in Australia!). We regularly identify species that are rare or have yet to be seen in Australian waters! With that said, I think it’s safe to say the day was a success across the board (boat).
