It was definitely a true expedition toward the canyon today! Strong winds and peaking crests of the swell made for a very bumpy road! With the high energy of the ocean, we were hoping for some excited and hungry orca! We weren’t disappointed! Nibbles and Digby were back and their adventures continue!
The gloomy, grey skies made an ominous backdrop as we encountered 10’s of oil slicks gleaming at the surface throughout the day! The orcas were avidly hunting! Multiple pods surrounded the general area, all of which were bringing up huge chunks of red and white flesh in their mouths! The orca came alongside us, three animals hovered just beneath the surface and belly up. A certain white glow didn’t move but got smaller and smaller, the orcas were dropping the meat to share it whist the next came in to pick it up! We were part of the hunt! By now slicks scattered across the surface toward the horizon!
Once the orca had full bellies, especially the juveniles, they were ready to play! The large swell made for the most perfect slide! The orcas were diving and plunging below the surface like bullets as they sped in toward us! Watching orca surf a wave is something not many people get the privilege of encountering in their lifetime, let alone feeding on Bremer Canyon squid!
The consistent smorgasbord of squid had died down by the afternoon! The orca quickly dispersed, all except for our pal Nibbles! We hadn’t had a solid encounter with Nibbles pod over the recent weeks so it was lovely to have some very close passes by the crew right before we turned for home on the now MUCH calmer waters! Easy to say it was another EPIC day for our Orca whale watching in Bremer Bay! And we can’t wait for what Augusta and Albany whale watching adventures will bring this year!
