Bremer Bay Blue Whale sighting today was a once in a lifetime moment for Pod Members onboard as time with the wonderful Orca completed a perfect day. Departing the harbour with a cozy cloud cover escorting us out to the sighting grounds all eyes were looking for Orca on our arrival. John Totterdell and his team currently completing filming had arrived earlier and were already travelling with big boy El Notcho and family. The family pod was busy foraging and had a big morning ahead of them as they spread wide and began the disciplined and steady process of looking for breakfast. It is always amazing to watch the coordination and focus of a foraging Orca family pod, especially the smaller families who don’t have the “Orca power” behind them.
Cookie has a small but tough family pod who works with ease and seem to know exactly what the other pod member will do ahead of time. Smaller pod numbers leads to very disciplined Orca to ensure that nothing is missed when they are in search mode. It was going to be a lean day fishing for the Orca with not many opportunities being discovered but they pushed on into the afternoon. Kidji and Alki moved in from the east as both family pods were also spread and Orca were scattered, travelling and searching as far as the eye could see. A big surprise was B-Slice who appeared out of the blue and was happily travelling along with Wasco as the two socialised together. Lovely to see many different members of multiple family pods working the grounds and we wished them well for a successful evening ahead with plenty of food to share. The journey back towards home was relaxed as we cruised in with the afternoon sunshine until a large column of mist rose from the ocean ahead… a blow from a very large whale!
Slowing we watched on carefully and soon afterwards the ocean began to glow turquoise, a Blue Whale was on the rise from the depths. Surfacing alongside us gently and with a loud exhalation it was a very special moment for everyone onboard to observe one of the largest creatures on our planet. A beautiful individual who was relaxed and curious continued to swim steadily to the west and hugged the coastline closely. Thankfully this young Blue Whale is travelling on a perfect pathway far away from the Orca and we hope that this pattern continues over the coming weeks as more Blues begin to make the journey up towards the Perth Canyon.
Looking forward to our Perth Canyon Blue Whale season which is fast approaching but still a few more weeks of Orca time left to enjoy every moment of!
