Orca matriarch Queen successful again in The Patch as her family secured an enormous meal with a field sized oil slick observed and feeding for hours. It was a big change from yesterday with a front having moved through overnight and with a steady breeze and swell moving through the environment had changed. It appeared the Orca had returned overnight as on our arrival two huge oil slicks with dozens of seabirds was found, the Orca must have returned and in the early morning were successful in a Beaked Whale predation.
Likely to be an adult Beaked Whale due to the size of the slick and also the amount of food the Orca were carrying with them happily. Queen surfaced with the majority of their meal as the family followed her and for the rest of the morning and early afternoon the family fed. Every meal is a vital part of maintaining their body condition and ideally increase their fat reserves, a round Orca is a healthy and happy one! Today was a good fishing day for the hunters and as they shared their meal it was great to see the little ones excitedly learning all about the meal sharing process. It is just the start of the season but Queen and her family have already been successful in two Beaked Whale hunts from what we have been able to observe in the las seven days showing her consistency and success with targeting such elusive prey.
