…Continuing on from yesterday blog I spoke with a “frequent flyer” of ours, Linda Horton!
Read on for her response to questions I asked her, and then after her interview, Kayla, My marine Bio Intern reflects on her day in the canyon!!
Linda has come out almost every season since we began and keeps on returning with us, she just can’t get enough! She reads every single blog post and even has runners with orca pattern on them!
Pia Markovic: “Linda this is your 5th year back in the canyon with us, what keeps bringing you back and don’t tell me its Dundees smile?”
Linda Horton: “Ha ha its such a beautiful part of the world and we are so lucky to have this on our door step”
Pia Markovic: “And why us? Why chose Naturaliste Charters?”
Linda Horton: “Well the boat is built for the Southern Ocean and I always feel safe and the crew know what they are doing and oh my their passion too! I chose them for Bremer, Dunsborough, Augusta and Busselton!” It’s always a lot of fun no matter what the whales are doing.
Pia Markovic: “What was your favourite part of today?”
Linda Horton: “Oooooo probably catching the end of the predation, that was very exciting when we rushed over and there was lots of action, so wonderful!
Here is Kayla:
Hello fellow orca fans, for the past two weeks I have been been lucky enough to venture out to the canyon each day aboard Naturaliste Charters as a marine biology intern. Nothing prepares you for the feeling of a wild killer whale surging metres below you, with post predation excitement as you wave from above.
Today was my favourite day on the canyon to date. Conditions were bound to entice orca action as we ventured out to the hotspot. Upon arrival, the vessel Alison Maree was greeted by Digby, Cookie, Oreo, Split tip and Noosa who swam past carrying the remains of a beaked whale. A kill had just occurred on the scene. With the pod’s hunger no longer looming they celebrated with tail slaps, and interacted closely with the boat by surfing underneath us.
The mood of the day was alive with the excitement of both passengers and crew as three more orca interactions unfolded. Congregating around the hotspot the same pod were successful in another predation with the fresh scent and visual cues of a mammalian oil slick spread out around the boat as evidence. The hours flew by in a heartbeat as the orcas consistently passed closely, rolling to show their brilliant white undersides as they surprised customers with their blows at both the stern and bow.
Travelling back into the harbour in awe of what we had witnessed, I could not wait for what was installed for tomorrow’s expedition. No two days at the Bremer Canyon killer whale watching are the same. Wild and raw. An experience in this gem of the Southern Ocean is one of a lifetime.
Thanks for reading 🙂
Kayla.
