OH MY ORCA! A truely remarkable day as the Orca lit up the Southern Ocean with incredible breaching, tail slapping and social behaviour before we surged back towards The Patch. It was going to be a story of two different days as we departed the Bremer Bay Boat Harbour with blue skies and sunshine. Arriving in The Patch we began to scan the horizon and could see a few Shearwaters and Albatross gliding past, before they began following our path and we knew that they were also on the lookout for the Orca. The dark rain clouds were building and we could feel the energy shift, a flash of white water on the horizon erupted and we knew instantly that the Orca were back in town. Arriving in the area we were met with the most incredible welcoming, the Orca continued the surface activity we had sighted further away as they began to tail slap over and over.
It was Cookie’s pod and with the scene set perfectly with the rumble of dark clouds behind the family launched into breaching! The rain began to fall in dramatic fashion as we found ourselves in a beautifully wild environment with the oceans apex predators. It was incredible as they launched their entire bodies clear of the water below and we were stunned with amazement and admiration for these incredible Orca. El Notcho had found a friend as a second pod joined in with the activity. This second male has not been sighted in the last few years and has grown so much, looking the picture of health as both the boys socialised, wrestled and chased each other playfully. Eventually it was time to complete the interaction as the younger male (yet to be named) regrouped with his family pod which left El Notcho alone and looking for the rest of his family. Just metres from our bow he tail slapped before all went quiet and then there was a sudden movement…. OH MY ORCA!
El Notcho launched into full body breaching right next to us, again and again as we jumped for joy with him, what an incredible moment to witness. The rest of his family pod were just up ahead and once everyone was back together again the surge was on as we made our way back towards The Patch. Arriving back in this family pods hometown, we wished them well for the late afternoon ahead and celebrated our incredible day with champagne and good times onboard.
