Breaching Bremer Bay Sperm Whales created memories that will last a lifetime as 60+ bachelor male Sperm Whales welcomed us as we Joined their Pod. Our morning began with a beautiful calm sea and a sleepy Fur Seal who made us all laugh as his little flipper pointed to the west… “they went that way!”. Taking the advice of this friendly seal we moved to the west and scanned the horizon carefully. A large plume of white water a very long distance away was just a glimpse of activity to start and as we approached the area something very special was about to unfold. Sperm Whales began to surface with only a few at first when suddenly we looked around as whale after whale surfaced, we were completely surrounded by the largest toothed predator on our planet.
One turned to face towards us which encouraged his friends around him who all began to swim our way and 60+ Sperm Whales surrounded us as far as the eye could see. Our gentle journey continued to the west as we swam with the pod and they completely relaxed until our breacher from earlier on launched only meters from our bow into breaching Bremer Bay Sperm Whales mode with full bodied breaching and continued head lunging. A truly spectacular sight that will never be forgotten for everyone onboard, a beautiful whale whose own kind were almost hunted to extinction but now live with freedom in the waters off our coastlines. It was very hard to leave these beautiful Sperm Whales, so at home and welcomed we felt with this pod. The others behind us had begun to sleep as their bulbous rostrums bobbed above the waters surface as they floated vertically, another incredible sight to witness and we tiptoed past so as not to disturb these peaceful sleeping giants who had captivated all of us.
Journeying back to the Patch it wasn’t long before a large Wandering Albatross and dozens of Shearwaters signalled that there was an apex predator in the area, the Orca had arrived. El Notcho and his family pod surfaced and their jet black bodies moved efficiently past the bow as the hunt continued. Focused and working hard, they were diving deep and with regular downtimes as each surfacing began to bring them closer together. A remarkable day to meet two of the oceans most unique and treasured cetaceans, a special day we will always remember and a perfect way to celebrate Julie’s birthday, perhaps that cheeky Fur Seal had the birthday surprises planned all along.
