Antarctic Orca vs Bremer Bay Orca

Antarctic Orca vs Bremer Bay Orca was witnessed today during a truely historical encounter as we were shocked to observe Antarctic Orca interrupt the Bremer Bay Orca after a Beaked Whale hunt and steal their meal! It started off like any other day, arriving in The Patch to Queen and her family pod who had just completed a meal with a good sized oil slick covering the area but it was the behaviour of the family pod that was most interesting. Stealthy, focused and covering ground together we felt the energy would take off at any moment and it certainly did! Surging to the east, we watched on as the family covered ground for over 6 mile before the speed stepped up a notch and the hunt erupted. The females caused a substantial injury to the poor Beaked Whale who had surfaced but quickly tried to accelerate form the Orca as they sped forward yet again.

The next attempt to evade was a deep dive but Queen and her girls knew the move was about to happen and dived at the same time, very quickly the hunt was sadly over. The rest of the pod along with Alki and her pod porpoised their way spectacularly into the hunt and efficiently began to share their hard earned meal. The birds were frantic and plummeted from every angle to capture what they could to eat while the Orca did a great job in sharing out the meal to all involved in the hunt. Alki had their share and then moved off quickly as Queen and her family continued to feed happily, showing off their prized meal to us as they approached and had us all in awe to be welcomed to the dinner table of Queen. Up to this point all had been a normal Beaked Whale hunt day, but things were about to change drastically as after a while of feeding Queen reacted in a way we had never witnessed before.

It happened quickly as four Orca surfaced on our bow but they were completely different to any Orca we have observed out here before. At the very same moment Queen and her family formed a tight FLOT line and moved as one away from their meal which remained floating midwater in front of us, we were stunned. Stealing what remained of the Beaked Whale was four Antarctic Ecotype Orca! Watching on in utter amazement we observed these four individuals feed on what Queen and her family had left behind as Wonks seemed unhappy to be leaving them with his food. As the rest of his family moved away we noticed that Wonks lingered for the longest before finally moving back over to Queen and following with the rest of the family away from the area. Our focus remained on these new Orca and what confidence they showed sneaking up to Queen in silence and taking this food from her, have these individuals done this in the past?

Graphic Content Warning: Beaked Whale Hunt

Food consumed, these powerful movers now began to hunt down Alki as they pinpointed her location and began to surge with ease towards her family. Moving effortlessly, it was incredible to observe how these Orca not only looked but travelled differently to the Bremer Bay Orca. Fascinating to watch this all unfold, we did have some concerns on how these Antarctic Ecotype Orca were going to approach Alki as they eventually closed the distance to less than 200 meters. Further food appeared to have been left as the birds squabbled at the surface as the four Orca moved below them and seemed to secure further scraps. To our great relief (and thanks to the donation of food from Alki perhaps) these four Orca stopped pursuing Alki and her family. The whole event had us completely stunned, it is something that has never been witnessed in these waters before.

To witness two different Orca ecotypes interacting in this way was extraordinary, could these Antarctic Orca be responsible for the injury on Queen’s back? The silvery grey coloration, enormous eye patch and tinge of diatoms are all indicators of these four individuals having travelled from cooler waters. It was an incredible day, one that we will always remember and further helps to build more knowledge on this unique coastline and the apex predators that live and visit these waters off Bremer Bay.

 

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