Our anxious and excited passengers were greeted this morning with calm seas and clear skies!
The orca reflected this relaxed mood as they seemed to be patrolling around the hotspot for the first half of the morning and since there was not a breath of wind the commonly seen Albatross and Shearwater’s were parked up in a raft on the surface relaxing too.
As it always seems to be the way in the Bremer Sub-Basin you never know where the best spot is on the boat to position yourself and your camera as orca blows could be seen from every angle and by noon they were in tight formation and slowly moving south possibly in search of food. These orcas were cautious of our boat not letting curiosity get the better of them as multiple bull’s guided 4-5 pods of female’s, juvenile males and calves along the 1000m contour line.
As the orca cruised around the boat some familiar dorsal fins raised up from the silky blue sea including Kidji, Razor and Holey! We were also joined again today by Mako and El Notcho and there is nothing more thrilling than seeing the male orcas monstrous dorsal slice through the waves. The isosceles shape dorsal fin of these large bulls can reach a maximum of 1.8 metres tall!!!! However, as quickly as they approached us they soon disappeared again by taking a dive and leaving a footp
Rint! This footprint is the displacement of water by the downward action of the tail fluke and our passengers were quick to spot them each time!
Eyes were on the horizon as we headed westward around 1pm when the call came from Blair (@Sharkyaerials) that there was a sperm whale at 1 o’clock! This was our first sighting for the season and we were eager to get a glimpse! All eyes were watching when the distinctive angled blow was seen again and again on the horizon. Sperm whales will “log” at the surface catching their breath after a deep dive. They will spend about 10-15 minutes breathing at the surface filling their oxygen starved lungs before plunging back into the depths again. They are able to take incredibly deep dives as they exhale most of the air out of their lungs causing their body to use oxygen stored in their muscles.
The day was topped off with our flyby of Glasse Island where passengers were treated to an endangered Australian Sea Lion pup suckling from his mottled grey and gold mum.
We can’t wait to do it all again tomorrow!
