Juvenile Beaked Whale Orca hunt unfolded today as Queen and her family were once again successful in securing an important meal for the pod. It was another lovely day as we arrived in The Patch and noticed a few scattered Shearwaters and Albatross. Slinky dorsal fins were observed and it was clear to see and feel the stealth amongst the Orca, they were spread wide and stalking prey. Further discreet surfacing’s indicated they must be close and a short time later it was clear what they had been following was nearby as the family launched into powerful surging. Racing from all angles we could see just how far and wide Queen and her pod had spread with much ground covered and the family now all racing to get close to the secured prey. Queen surfaced along with her elder daughters as a small flash of grey was sighted right alongside her, it was a juvenile Beaked Whale.
Only one surfacing was allowed before the Orca calmly and carefully completed the hunt with the resulting slick and blood clearly showing the end of the hunt. It was fast, efficient and very Queen as she once again demonstrated to all onboard why she is the Queen of the Bremer Canyons. The family began to enjoy their meal as it was shared amongst pod members with much excitement from the calves. Commotion on the horizon was sighted as over fifty Pilot Whales came surging in to see what all the noise had been about. Calmly regrouping the Orca moved clear of the Pilot Whales to finish their meal as a Hammerhead Shark skimmed the surface looking for any scraps. Soon we were joined by Swirl who had peeled away from her family to investigate what was happening and after some social time around the boat both pods began to surge back down to the west again. It was an incredible day to witness the efficiency of our oceans apex predators and see just how wonderful a hunter matriarch Queen is to her family pod. A wonderful addition to also sight the Pilot Whales and birdlife associated when a hunt takes place and see how all the species are interconnected to the Orca in a unique way.
