New Bremer Bay Orca calf Jessica was sighted today as she is another new arrival to the population during an Orca summer baby boom! It was a beautiful day with light winds and swell easing as the last of the southerlies dissipated throughout the morning and a big blue sky would greet us later in the morning. Arriving in The Patch it was fantastic to see John Totterdell and the team from the ABC program Catalyst who are currently filming over the next couple of weeks for an upcoming episode. It was a special pod they were working with, one that John first discovered and studied many years ago in these waters with Lucy and her family all together including new baby Gabriel. The family pod was happy and relaxed as they moved as one with Eddie, Dart and Gabriel coming over for morning greetings. It is beautiful to watch baby Gabriel growing in confidence and enthusiasm each and every interaction with not long now until we are big four weeks old.
A second pod had moved into the area and it was the perfect opportunity to see which family pod it was coming into the hunting grounds. Hermes and her family had arrived and they had with them the most precious little surprise, a brand new calf for female Orca Wendy! She was travelling with the family and wedged between pod members as they travelled as one with Wendy keeping a watchful eye over her baby. The name for this new calf just had to be after our older sister whose name is Jessica, we are so excited to welcome her into the world and watch her grow in the years ahead. It was fantastic to watch the family work together today with little Warnie in the mix as well with plenty of foraging resulting in a few oil slicks which was an encouraging sign of food being captured. It has been a busy summer of arrivals with three newborns observed over the last month and a wonderful reflection of the health of this ever growing population. Jessica is officially the newest members identified in the population and it was a most wonderful surprise to meet her for the very first time today.
