Today we were greeted by three matriarchal females for our Bremer Canyon Killer Whale Watching! The pod cruised in a perfect line, all surfacing in unison! Of course the QUEEN of the canyon, Split-tip lead the trio, with Noosa and Cookie closely beside her! Flapper and her calf from last season (baby machi) bolted in and alongside us! Flapper stayed wide as Machi continually “free willied” in line with the customers on our stern, making sure she gained the attention of the customers on the bow too!
Every year the Australia Day long weekend brings calm ocean conditions, making spotting orca a breeze! We had pods playing in the distance in almost every direction, 11 o’clock, 1, 3 AND heading toward us at 6 o’clock! We also had some canyon visitors passing through today! Our friends from the True North we’re extremely lucky, both with the conditions AND the encounters they witnessed! We had a VERY interesting call over the radio…a GREAT WHITE off their bow, orca thrashing just in front! Soon after an oil slick dispersed amongst the pod! We cannot believe the extent of our interactions this season and we’re so happy that True North experienced some of the canyon chaos with us!
We had orca at our fingertips! As the socialising continued with the pod at our bow so did the flashes and glows of their underbellies! We had customers at our port and starboard screaming LEFT and RIGHT for 20 minutes as the orca darted from one side to the other! After being absolutely spoilt for the entire morning the swell started to drop even more! Three pods all formed their distinct line formations….were they about to hunt?!?! We waited for the pods to arch their heads, lift their flukes and dive, yet they didn’t! The orca cruised as they shallow dived just beneath the surface! They were all sleeping right beside us!!! We rarely see the orca in such a docile state and it was a great contrast to their usual porpoising predations!
We also came across El Notchos pod as we headed to the hotspot for one last little look! Their pod were diving deep and for five minutes at a time! We hope they found a feed! When we were well on our way home, up the shelf and into 500m of water we sighted blows!!
Razor and her calf Blade were a long way from home! We wonder if they were still asleep! Either way, these incredible creatures continue to amaze us EVERY day!
