We began our trip to the canyon with an escort from a pod of common dolphin today. These beautifully marked animals surfed in our wake and surged alongside as we made our way from the marina.
We were encouraged by a small but welcome increase in bird numbers as we arrived in the deep waters of the canyon. We sighted Shy Albartoss, Indian Yellow Nosed Albatross, Wilson’s and White Faced Storm Petrels as well as Flesh Footed Shearwaters. Even more excitingly, we sighted a small pod of killer whales in the distance. As we approached them carefully, the massive, triangular dorsal fin of El Notcho was instantly recognisable as it broke the surface ahead, followed by the familiar fins of the rest of the small southern ocean killer whale family. Just as quickly as they had appeared though, they were gone. We waited out the 20 minutes they could possibly remain beneath the waves for. And waited a bit more. The pod did not resurface.
We tracked slowly from the east to the west of the canyon, sighting an oceanic blue shark along the way. The swathe of blue sea in all directions was quiet. We tracked once more back to the hotspot, where our offshore adventure had begun. As if they had been there all day, six shiny black dorsal fins of varying shapes and sizes surfaced. We had encountered our friends again. El Notcho’s pod made some close passes to begin with, before resuming business of their own. We added another shark to our day’s sightings, this time a whaler shark was clearly visible as it was lifted in the swells. The killer whales were never far away for the rest of the afternoon, and we enjoyed many times the magnificent sight of a pod of wild killer whales making their way through the southern ocean. An experience that will live forever in our memories.
Until tomorrow,
The Bremer Canyon Crew
