Juvenile Beaked Whale predation was observed today as Lucy and her family were successful in securing a substantial meal for everyone. A light easterly was forecast and it was set to increase later on in the afternoon as we arrived to busy Shearwaters and Albatross scanning for signs of food. Our eyes also settled into scan mode as we covered ground and looked carefully for signs of Orca in the area. Birdlife was good and we kept a close eye out for blows and dorsal fins which are often what is sighted first during the search phase of each tour. Activity was minimal and although a thorough area was covered there were no signs of Orca energy to the west as we moved back up towards The Patch. Multiple blows were sighted just ahead as Orca surfaced with urgency and the energy levels went from zero to a hundred in a matter of moments. The movement was fast and the oil slick large as the Orca had been successful in a juvenile Beaked Whale predation as the heavy scent of the oil was noticeable and covered a huge area.
The family were busy sharing their meal as Cheryl surfaced with a very heavy chunk of meat that she took responsibility for carrying and sharing with B-Slice along with others. The matriarchs play a very important role in the entire process of a hunt as the foraging, kill and sharing process is intricate and takes time to learn for younger Orca. Today we were very pleased to see the Orca have some success after a few days of foraging with minimal reward during our time with them but today was a very different story. The family was happy as they shared their meal and enjoyed every morsel with nothing going to waste. A couple of cheeky sharks joined in on the food scraps that were left behind as the seabirds frantically dived around the Orca to secure their meal. It was a rather special end to a big day as we enjoyed moving out to the east a bit with the family as baby Gabriel came over with mum Akama to say hello excitedly and spend some time travelling with us eastbound. Always bittersweet to see the demise of a Beaked Whale as they themselves are such beautiful creatures but a vitally impotent meal for the Orca as food is a little lean on the feeding grounds at the moment.
