The hotspot for orca in australia has NEVER been hotter! 5 pods over 5 hours!
Out FIRST glance at killer whales was one BRIGHT orange flash…NEO! The TINY orange dot of a calf was airborne multiple times as we cruised closer! The pod’s other 3-4-year-old youngster was in PRIME form! He rolled upside down with its mouth WIDE open each time he surfaced, always coming closely alongside the little neonate! It was as if the juvenile had only JUST discovered his tongue, wriggling it around amongst the whitewash, spy-hopping, tail-slapping and glowing upside-down with every surface!
Neo’s mum (Spot) is becoming calmer on every encounter, similarly as Neo becomes more and more confident with us and his abilities! The newborn is surfacing on his own AND darting at the bow so close we could’ve touched him on multiple occasions!
Our HUNTRESS made multiple fleeting appearances throughout the day, checking on each pod like the good orca godmother that she is! Her first sighting was when she was cruising behind Neo and Nani’s pod. We always hope there will be some action when she’s around!
Noosa and Urkel’s pod were the next to cruise through the vicinity whilst all other pods were still in sight too! To our customers benefit all of the pods had consistently long surface times and short, shallow dives as they cruised the thick of the hotspot.
Next, we had Digby’s pod join the production line! Our first thought was WHERE IS NIBBLES? Those two are never far apart! By now the calves from each pod were having a field day at the epicentre of the action! Surging and rolling about like puppy dogs in a playpen!
NOW we had Split tip’s entire girl gang in the area and boy were they showing off too! You could see they were definitely gaining the attention of their male counterparts that cruised on past!
We had orca within 100m of the vessel the ENTIRE day! Our favourite interaction was when two little grommets roared in toward us head-on! The pair were rolling under the hull and either side of the stern for minutes! Back and forth little blade and his mate played! Where was his mum Razor???
As soon as we said that Nibbles and Razors pod surfaced out of the deep blue abyss and headed straight for us! Our babysitting duties were over! El Notcho made an appearance without the rest of his pod too! The old salty sea panda patrolled the outskirts, keeping his distance with the hope of getting a feed!
The atmosphere throughout the day was strong! It felt as though the energy was building and something was going to happen! Small oil slicks rose as Nibbles and Digby’s pods joined together to form an echelon line! They were successful on their hunt but nothing too large! We wish we could’ve waited until sunset to see what could’ve unveiled out here today!!!
