THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY!

The energy from today’s keen customers rose with the increasing wind gusts that blew us out to the canyon! With high energy came high anticipation as we hammered out over the continental shelf! The day felt as though it  was going to be as big as the swell, and it sure was! Our keen customers handled the weather with ease, just like the soaring assortment of albatross that patrolled the waters, skimming and gliding over the rough white caps and dark water beneath us.  As we approached the canyon we had ALL eyes on deck, however the minutes felt like hours until the first scream for orca dissipated throughout the vessel! At first glance we could only spot two orca, one large bull (Urkel) and a small female with a very falcate (curved) dorsal fin( Noosa). It didn’t take long for us to decipher their “courting” behaviour. The pair surfaced multiple times for brief moments over the next 15 minutes, popping up in every other direction than the one prior! We were soon greeted by the rest of their pods which consisted of Kodja, Flapper and her calf Maddison to name a few! Just as the clouds parted and the sun came out the orcas cheered up, coming along side to show off their large pecs to the customers, also accompanied by a VERY small neonate (calf)! The close interactions calmed off for a moment only to be overtaken by an intense change in behaviour! The group started to surge all around the vessel, speeding down the crest of the swell toward us at speed! We could see the outline of the orca beneath the surface, trying to track their movements as they approached like bullets!!! The orca rose ahead of the vessel surging again before the two pods all plummeted toward the depths on the pursuit for the poor defenceless pod of beaked whales! It must’ve been a fight to the depths as the beaked whales raced toward the bottom of the sub-basin beyond the orcas reach (roughly 900m)! Beaked whales can withstand immense pressure, diving to voer 2000m with ease! Alas, the orca weren’t so lucky this time, and just like that the excitement was over and so was our day in the canyon!