Killer Whale foraging patterns are always interesting to observe as today we enjoyed watching three different family pods working the hunting grounds. Arriving in The Patch it was firstly Cookie and her family including handsome El Notcho who were swimming amongst an oil slick which appeared to be squid due to the scent and lightness of oil on the surface. Positive signs that there was some food moving through the area as they began to spread and begin the next bout of foraging. The family is getting mature now and it has been a long time since a new calf has been welcomed into this pod, one day soon there will be a little one but for the time being the entire family can assist with hunting efforts. It wasn’t just Cookie and her pod steadily foraging through The Patch today as Queen and her family were also on scene working the grounds. Samurai made sure to come over for his usual cheeky greetings and fun as the family cruised past our bow in a gentle approach and greeting. Queen was busy today looking after Samurai and it was beautiful to watch her in Nan mode as she kept him close and we knew that he was certainly going to be learning a lot from travelling with Queen today.
Our last pod for the day was the lovely Alki and her family who seemed to be targeting squid or fish as small little slicks would form after every second or third deep dive. The family was content and enjoying travelling close together which is always a beautiful sight. Grace came rushing over to spend some time having fun wake riding and it was exciting to see her again, it has been a few days now since we last sighted them in The Patch. Slater is growing so fast and putting on good size as his dorsal fin is going through that awkward sprouting phase. It will take time for the dorsal to grow to the same size as Nani and by that time both of these males will be an impressive sight for this small but growing family pod. A more relaxed pace today amongst the Orca as we were able to observe Killer Whale foraging behaviour and some small successes throughout the day. It was clear all three families were wanting to maintain a close proximity to the heart of The Patch as they waited and watched for prey a little larger to move through the area.
