We spent our Saturday with orca all around!
The orcas had converged back into the hotspot this morning, with multiple family pods all here for socialising and feeding.
Nani and Neo, who were sighted yesterday were still feeding on small prey items, such as fish or squid. The concoction of pelagic birds up in the sky was to be expected, however a small Soft Plummaged Petrel was not! Spied by our gun photographer Machi, it stood out with its white belly! This seabird is uncommon here in Bremer Bay and a first for this season but is known to feed in deeper waters off the continental shelf, the typical description of our hotspot. He constantly made appearances throughout the day and allowed us all to get a good look!
The big boys, Fue and Kai were present and accounted for. We haven’t sighted these two since mid February making this an even better sighting! They were following closely behind their respective female pods, with more orca only a mere hundred metres off into the distance.
Irwin with his great white shark shaped dorsal was also here with Wonks, aptly named because of his very wonky dorsal. Bonkers and Billie, the juveniles, were away from their usual pods and hanging out with other youngsters! These two and another teeny weeny calf (born mid-feb) were completely consumed in their own social behaviour all day! They rolled, played, spy hopped and pushed each other, at times they were pushing another completely out of the water! The lightest and smallest whale ended up on the head of another whale, experiencing the force of gravity on his orange-tinged body. His back arched and then quickly toppled back into the water! They were having a hoot and so were we 🙂
