We had an exceptional day with the Orca of the Bremer Canyon as we sighted tall blows in the distance and upon our arrival we were surrounded by Orca! There was a high energy in the air as a male that has not been sighted for a while, Jandamarra, seemed to be following a female and her calf very closely. Every time he would come up behind them both mother and calf would repeatedly tail slap and deter the attention of Jandamarra which was an amazing interaction to witness and certainly made us think that the handsome Jandamarra was trying to flirt and show courtship behaviour towards the female who is known as Cookie.
The other Orca that were in the area also responded with tail slapping, inverted tail and pec slapping while a young male even breached only meters away from our vessel! Shortly after this amazing interaction amongst the individuals they began their march towards the canyon wall and as we followed more individuals arrived including two young calves, one of which is a new calf sighting. Behaviour sighted earlier in the morning indicated possible feeding on pelagic fish which may have provided the burst of energy seen in the large amount of surface activity. We soon became a part of the pod as individuals approached under and around our vessel as we moved as one into deeper water on the hunt for the next meal of the wild Orca of the Bremer Canyon.
