Killer Whale Tours in January is an exciting time as the season gets underway with multiple family pods visiting the hunting grounds just as we sighted today. Our first pod was familiar faces with Cheryl and the family cruising through The Patch and diligently looking for their next meal. Orca have been known to spend anywhere between fifty to ninety percent of their day foraging and on the lookout for that next meal opportunity. Sometimes hours at a time without break can be observed amongst family pods especially when they are tracking prey such as the elusive Beaked Whale. Today it certainly felt there was Beaked Whale activity in the area as the Orca were focused and working hard.
A sudden increase in energy and surge of speed could be seen as Queen and her family pod arrived on scene and we wondered if they were closing in on their prey in collaboration with Cheryl and her family pod. Surfing the swell, the Orca covered ground effortlessly but shortly after the surge started the Orca regrouped and each family pod went seperate ways. Spreading out and returning to focused dives we wondered if the prey had evaded the Orca momentarily or if it had successfully moved out to deeper waters. It is always amazing to watch just how disciplined the Orca are when it comes to foraging and each day they must be flexible with when they hunt and when they rest. Orca are opportunistic and when good foraging is available to them they will put in the hard work, but when they are tired or a lack of prey is present then they will take the opportunity to rest.
