The Canyon was a washing machine today! Contrary to customers belief at times, the windier the weather, the better the tour! Swell from one direction and wind from another, forming the perfect conditions for out orca to hunt! The past week our orca have been on a feeding frenzy. BUT what shocked us straight off the bat wasn’t the orca, it was a pod of BEAKED WHALES within metres of the boat. Oil slicks surrounded the area and we were nervous for what may unfold right in front of our eyes! The slick wasn’t in fact from the orca predating on the beaked whales, it was from the beaked whales feeding on a number of red arrow squid! The remanence of the squid and tentacles were being ripped apart and rummaged on by a large swirl of birds, with pieces floating past the boat for us to quickly identify before either being swallowed or lost to the depths. As we approached the hotspot we soon spotted our favourite pod…take a guess who…EL NOTCHO. A predation was soon underway, large pools of blood made the surface green, the pod had successfully taken down a mammal, suggesting a beaked whale bites the dust. Parts of the mammal werein the mouths of the surrounding orca as they shared the kill between the group, making sure the calf was well catered for. The pods full bellies were confirmed by tail slaps, spy hops and energetic porpoising alongside the vessel.
Another pod and another predation! Orcas in all directions, the calls came from port, starboard, bow, stern! Four boastful orca came to show off their kill, eyeballing the gopro with gizzards still trailing from their mouth all the way to their tale! We lost count of the amount of close passes we encountered from this pod! Right before we were about to depart the whales the customers at the bow spotted a large white glow rising from the depths, much larger than the orca above them. The outline became more prominent as it got closer, the shape was soon clear. A MASSIVE bull on his ventral side, all the way to the surface, as he turned back around his dorsal stood tall and strong! Only seconds passed before the fin sliced the surface, gliding back to the depths! The customers were in awe! Another epic day in Bremer Bay.
Images by Sharkyaerials and Aeroture_au
