Today the Orca led us on an ocean safari, meeting us in the canyon just off the shelf before taking us for a ride westwards visiting various species along the way. We first met the relaxed trio just of the shelf and watched as they became familiar with the boat, intimately passing the bow before trailing down the sides of the vessel, getting a good look at all the passengers on board. They rolled beneath the boat surfacing on either side before turning in the water revealing their white underbellies. One even surfaced completely upside down resting on the top of the water exposing his belly and the underside of his pectoral fins to our passengers on board.
In a very relaxed manor the trio then began leading us through the canyon, navigating along the 1000m contour towards the west. We trailed behind following their whale footprints and watching as they relaxed into a constant breathing rhythm surfacing every 2 minutes. After almost 15 minutes of shadowing behind they lead us into a sunfish. We slowed to catch a glimpse of the largest bony fish in the ocean and its astonishing dimensions. Sunfish can reach 3.5m in length from tip to tail and can weigh up to 2.5 tons! Although this one wasn’t yet fully grown, its size was still quite impressive for our eager passengers watching on the bow.
While examining the sunfish we lost eyes on our touring pod momentarily as they took a dive surfacing 200m away. We caught up and continued our voyage through the canyon noticing an angled blow off into the distance. It was a sperm whale! Upon this realisation we hit the gas and powered over there to make it before the sperm whale took its deep dive. However unfortunately we weren’t fast enough as the spermie lifted its tail and delved back into the deep. Sperm whales spend about 10 minutes logging on the surface breathing every 10 seconds so it’s difficult to tell when they’re going to take their next dive.
After leading us through the canyon the small pod’s energy levels lifted as they began riding our bow wave alongside the vessel before following out in our wake allowing our passengers to get their last great shots before we made our way back into shore
Until tomorrow
Naturaliste charters
