140 Minute Beaked Whale hunt was observed today as Queen captured a Beaked Whale and powerfully towed her prey while feeding her family for over 140 minutes! Arriving to a scene of drama unfolding as hundreds of seabirds gathered like a cloud above Queen and her family who surfaced with a Beaked Whale tightly in her grasp. She did not let go and towed the Beaked Whale along, the kill had been made and now she was taking her time as the family regrouped around their matriarch. Alki and her family also gathered nearby and seemed hopeful to receive part of this important meal as well as breaching, spy hops and tail slaps reflected the excitement and anticipation for the meal ahead.
The commotion continued to build as even more birds gathered and would plummet into the ocean each time a small amount of the meal was torn away for the family as each member took turns in feeding on small amounts. Queen towed the Beaked Whale for a very long time and was in no hurry to rush this meal, after a lean start during January she has been making the most of a very successful few days in The Patch. At one point we watched as young male Slater was approached by older male Wonks who noticed that Slater was getting far too close to Queen and the food. Unhappy with that, Wonks approached Slater and they had a brief wrestle, it seemed to work as Slater hung back a bit further and was very clear it wasn’t his turn yet!
Eventually it was time for everyone to have their share of the meal once Queen was satisfied that her immediate family members had eaten well. Amongst a plume of exhalation bubbles, oil and blood the hunt completed after 140 long and incredible minutes. The start of January has been leaner than previous years, prey has been around but the Orca have had to work very hard to secure meals within The Patch. It interestingly coincides with a rather quiet 2025 Humpback calving season which may mean that the Orca have had a leaner than usual winter/spring and early start to summer. Stay tuned for a further post on this soon, but it is great to see that the Bremer Bay Orca have started to gain some momentum in their food intake which is important not only for them but the countless birds, fish and sharks that depend on the scraps associated with these successful hunts.
