The morning of searching quickly came to a halt once we crept over the boarders of far far away and into Shrek’s paddock. DORSALS! The pods were spread over a mile, even more! The longer we cruised with the orca, the more we’d sight. There were FOUR large bulls in the area!
To start we could identify Nibbles amongst the big bad boys, but who next? Lucky, Bear, and the other mysterious male from a few days back were now all surfacing closely alongside each other.
After closer inspection, we uncovered that it wasn’t our friend Nibbles, after all, it was his doppelganger!! There are only slight dissimilarities in the size of the notch and pattern in his eyepatch! He even had the crew stumped!
Speaking of stumps…we had our dorsal-less friend Lucky today too! It’s so odd watching a blow and expecting a dorsal to follow only to encounter a quick glimpse of their back!
The orcas were spending extended periods below the surface, over 5-8 minutes each dive! It was incredible to watch the pod surface, it was as if we were watching a perfectly choreographed dance recital!!
It was definitely a peculiar day out in the canyon today! Some of our returning customers even noticed! The presence of new pods meant their behaviour was a little more standoffish than usual BUT we LOVE encountering new animals! Our bird watchers and photographers noticed it amongst the bird too! We had 8 wandering albatross soar past our vessel throughout the day and NO yellow nose which are quite common in these parts! Something must’ve been in the air!
Throughout the day we encountered a few mother orcas and their toddlers riding the waves on the outskirts! The majority of the animals amongst the tighter groupings seemed to be boys and of ALL ages! From young lads, sprouting teens, to MASSIVE 9-tonne missiles like A380!
Just before we headed for home we sighted a skyscraper-sized dorsal fin rising from the depths.
It couldn’t be….surely not….after 5 years…had A380 returned?!?!
It’s hard to find words to describe the feeling you get when you witness an animal of this size. The power behind just a beast, the takedowns, the miles travelled, the seas and swell this animal must’ve seen and ridden over the years. Absolutely breathtaking. After talking to Dave Riggs this evening and looking over our archives, turns out it isn’t A380, BUT he sure is giving the KING a run for his money!
Stay tune for more daily updates in our Bremer Canyon Killer Whale Watching Tours.
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