Orca tours in Bremer Bay during February is a wonderful time to see the Orca making the most of the summer months as little Poppy today was once again having some fun. A beautiful day was forecast and it made for the perfect conditions to be out on the water. All of the Shearwater chicks have almost all grown as they settle in to the Bremer Bay Boat Harbour for the final weeks of their training and foraging practice. Dorsal fins broke the surface within moments of arriving in The Patch and we smiled to see the same Orca families we had interacted with yesterday including Cookie and Cooee. Relaxed, social and moving slowly to the west we tracked with them in the early morning sunshine as they covered ground efficiently. It had been a while of westbound foraging before they regrouped and pushed back to the east as Cookie led the way while Cooee and Echo took the wider search ground of their foraging pattern throughout the morning.
Amongst the focused dives and consistent travel they would often swim alongside us comfortably and at ease as they tried to locate breakfast. The search continued into the afternoon and it was interesting to observe as they all regrouped and took the opportunity to relax. Working so hard for a number of hours straight it is important for all pod members and especially the young calves to take some time to socialise and relax providing their brain with a respite from all the focus used throughout the search phase. Humans will often do this as well with the much loved coffee break always a good time to switch off and refresh before resuming work. Poppy was thrilled it was playtime as she whizzed around her pod members before wrestling with her mum and Swirl who had come over to play with the little one, always very sweet to see the affection from other Orca towards these young calves and the sense of community they have between each other.
