THE MATRIARCHY

Our favourite granny Split Tip has been babysitting a TINY newborn calf from a female that is yet to be identified in our catalogue over the last few weeks! Today we got a very up close and personal encounter with the group of three (“granny”, mum and calf) for over an hour!!! The mother/calf pair are yet to be named so we thought it fitting to call the mum Val and the calf Lenny for Valentine’s Day! The calf has very prominent markings! The eyepatches and lower chin area have scarring that are consistent with teeth marks, likely from when the calf was a young neonate (check out the images!). Another juvenile was also so inquisitive of the vessel, making multiple close passes throughout the tour, mostly on its side and even upside-down (making it very easy for us to determine the sex, FEMALE!!). The juvenile came in so close that it looked as though she was having a little scratch up against the hull! To see these curious little creatures act so confident alongside our vessel at such a young age is incredible (and also daunting) as they learn quickly off their older pod members! The big bulls kept their distance today, maybe they were off hunting for Valentine’s Day presents for their queens of the Canyon! We came across SO MANY small oil slicks at the surface today, but we kept missing the ACTION! It is likely that the orca were feeding on smaller prey items today (squid) and doing so sub-surface and well out of out sight. The orcas behaviour changes drastically after a hunt, commonly becoming extremely friendly with the vessel right after a feed! It was a pleasant sight for the customers right off the bat as the instant sighting of a slick meant we could predict that the orca would come close and they sure did! There is nothing more rewarding than watching the customers reactions as they watch the black and white beauties glide through the water just below the surface to pop up right below us as their first ever orca sighting! It truly was a LOVEly day in Bremer Bay!