Quality time with the Bremer Orca was enjoyed today as a relaxed Queen and her family pod made the most of a lovely day. A gentle rain enveloped us this morning and as we arrived at boarding time it slowly dissipated and was set to clear into a beautiful blue sky day. Slinky dorsal fins were first observed as Queen and her family pod were spread and in forage mode. Carefully working the grounds they appeared to be tracking something and we watched on as they moved with purpose and maintained that very disciplined and stealthy profile. A while later it seemed that whatever had their interest had now moved off as Queen regathered and began to travel as we enjoyed some quality time with the Bremer Orca. Every day is unique when travelling with these apex predators and to be welcomed into their pod and allowed to spend time with them in this way is something we don’t take for granted. Our time with the pods we have the opportunity of working with daily must be meaningful and just as the Orca are disciplined in their day to day life we must be disciplined in our interactions with them.
Ensuring that they are always in charge of the interaction and monitoring our time with them ensures that we build trust. Our routine remains the same each day and the Orca become familiar with that, allowing them to build confidence in what our movements will be when we are with them. The time spent with Orca is also crucial, we aim to spend no more than four hours with the Orca and self monitor that time daily. Quality time with the Orca is spent when we observe and not influence behaviour, we must immerse ourselves in their world for the day and allow them to lead the way. Today was a great example of that as Queen and all of her pod members were relaxed, travelling happily and covering ground in search of that next meal. She welcomed us into the family and travelled alongside us, often coming in closer to interact before continuing on with leading the way forward. Queen knows us and she knows how we move and behave around her, trust has been built and the reward is an opportunity to be welcomed by wild Orca into their world for a few hours each day. It is a great honour and we work hard to ensure that our trust with the Orca continues to build and our relationship with them deepens so that into the future our Pod Members can continue to enjoy quality time with the Bremer Orca.
