The smooth movement of a sharks dorsal caught our attention as it broke the surface. A young Hammerhead Shark was the first to great us as we arrived at the Bremer Canyon. Shortly after one of our guests spotted with a keen eye movement just to our left. The bulbous heads of a few Long Finned Pilot Whales surfaced not far away and it seemed as soon as they were noticed the whole family surfaced to say hello! Soon close on one hundred Bremer Bay Pilot Whales gently approached our vessel and spent the next hour dancing, spy hopping and interacting with everyone onboard. There were many mothers and calves with a few big males also following along with the group.
After their social interaction with us they picked up a little bit of speed and continued to make a steady path towards the deeper parts of the canyon. Leaving them to continue their foraging we enjoyed the company of an enormous Wandering Albatross, Shy Albatross, Black Browed Albatross, Indian Yellow Nosed Albatross, Wilsons Storm Petrels and Flesh Footed Shearwaters. A sleepy New Zealand Fur Seal stretched and relaxed in the afternoon sunshine while looking at everyone onboard and wondering what we were up to! We noticed when studying the underwater footage of the Bremer Bay Pilot Whales that their movements were relaxed and gentle. We placed our hydrophone for a listen in and found there was minimal chitter chatter amongst everyone. Perhaps they were spending a bit of time in our sound footprint so others around could not hear them as easily!
