08.01.2022
A great day!
Sometimes you have a normal land day, then sometimes you go out on an orca expedition and have a great day.
El Notcho, Cookie and Swirl among others, were hunting at the hotspot this morning. The usual run, up and down the swell. Into the weather and back down with the weather! Rough then calm.
The area was a hive of activity, birds soaring above with a handful of different species. It is always great to see the diversity in the air out here.
From the water level up; White-Faced Storm Petrels, Wilson Storm Petrels, Flesh-Footed Shearwaters, Shy Albatross’s, Indian Yellow Nosed Albatross’s and a single Wandering Albatross. We were also joined by a slightly rarer bird. A Great Shearwater. The white-rumped and white-collared shearwater was cleaning its feathers on the surface, trying to blend in with the other birds.
From our Bird Experts, Plaxy Barratt and Daniel Mantle –
“Great Shearwaters breed in the South Atlantic Ocean and mostly spend winter in the North Atlantic (that’s at least two oceans away!!). Off the shelf of Bremer is the only location in Australia that Great Shearwaters semi-regularly visit. This sighting is our TENTH for Bremer Bay, and the ELEVENTH for W.A.”
Go Team Seabirds!!!!
Below the water we had orca and at least two pods! With Cookie leading the group, Wonks and Split Tip were “right next door”. Around lunchtime they had made a successful kill. This meant the sharks were following closely behind.
As food was divided up amongst the groups, we were spied on by top-side orca!!! Spy-hopping is when an orca rises up vertically out of the water up to about their pectoral fins. While their rostrum (head) is out of the water they have their eyes open looking around at what is above the water.
This was a GREAT way to wave us off out of the hotspot. With common dolphins on the journey home, Australian Sea Lions and two Little Penguins at Glasse Island we all smiled after our great day.
