09.02.2022
Silky and silly day!
The Southern Ocean was like blue velvet. Not even a single ripple. A small fish skimming the surface could be easily spotted. A ‘mill-pond’ day!
Our first glance at cetaceans this morning were Long Finned Pilot Whales. A small tight pod that was charging along. Although we were enjoying their company they took us straight to the Orca.
There was a hive of activity! A much larger pod of pilots were being chaperoned by a brown cloud of shearwaters. The orca were high tailing it from the scene while the smaller pilot pod seemingly “chased” them away.
The surged stopped and the orca settled. No surprised as the Pilot’s chased ceased. We ventured with them for another three and a half hours.
The large pod split into two and we followed Digby and five others for the majority of the day. Their relaxed composure combined with the flat as a tack sea made for an incredible viewing experience.
Looking through glass onto orca who are slowly passing by our vessel, simultaneously looking back up at us, has to be one of the most breath-taking experiences.
We were able to take plenty of identification photos and watch the behaviour of most of the calves present. One calf in particular, lil Dundette, who is now just over a year old was acting how we can only describe as silly!!
The little calf appeared to be drinking milk from its mum as it spent a lot of time underneath her. Then its mum rolled over and pushed its belly out of the water! This could be a sign of “you’ve had enough.” There was a big cloudy poo from one of them and then the action started. The calf was behaving ‘milk-drunk’ rolling onto its back, pectoral flippers out of the water, zooming past the other whales and then throwing its tail up in the air!
Another calf soon joined in and the two of them rolled and swam together around our vessel. The play must have turned rough as lil Dundette surfaced with a fresh scar from orca teeth on her back. The two parted ways soon after this!
An overall glorious day out in the canyon!! A fresh break from the rough conditions we have been enduring throughout February so far. 
