Orca hydrodynamics are truely amazing as they have the least amount of drag in their movement compared to any other cetacean currently studied. Their beautiful, tapered shape and streamlined skin enable the Orca to move through the water effortlessly and the incredible thrust power through their peduncle and fluke enables serious acceleration abilities. Even when an Orca is just cruising we can witness the minimal drag, today we had many examples of this as they would dart towards us with a flash of black and white before surfacing all in a matter of moments. It was Queen and Alki busy today in The Patch making the most of the opportunity to complete some focused foraging. The first to greet us excitedly was Shredder, Samurai and Arry as they raced over for morning greetings while circling around us in a big Orca hug.
Further pod members came over to greet us before resuming back to foraging as they worked the grounds with much effort and focus today. It was also exciting to see another Humpback Whale today, a different individual from yesterday with this youngster much smaller and with larger, white belly markings. Maintaining a low profile, this young Humpback was resting quietly and it is good to see them hugging the coastline so closely. The change of season will see more and more baleen whales moving along our south coast in the weeks ahead and it is important for them to keep well clear of The Patch and areas further offshore that the Orca like to spend the majority of their time hunting and foraging in regularly. The mother Humpback Whales teach their calves at a young age to use the shallows of the coastline to their advantage on these long migratory journeys, especially in areas that the Humpback Whales have learnt that Orca frequent like the waters off Bremer Bay.
