Bremer Canyon Orca A380

Elvis is alive! The King of the Bremer Canyon took our breath away as he surfaced alongside our bow this morning as his name could be heard right through the boat as Orca A380 appeared after a non sighting absence of 2 years. Concerns that the King of the Bremer Canyon may have come to the end of his reign were no longer needed as he approached our starboard side and had everyone so very excited to be in his presence. Another large male known as Urkel was sighted tail slapping as A380 moved up towards him, seeming to be telling the King not to approach him or his family too closely and after a few more fluke slaps Urkel, Noosa and their pod took off. A truely remarkable morning as over 100+ Orca, hundred of birds and even Pilot Whales were surrounded by oil slicks as a feeding frenzy amongst them all took place. Pieces of squid were sighted flying around in the beaks of Albatross as each Orca pod took their share of food and dispersed as the lone A380 cruised through the area and made his presence known amongst the population as everyone moved out of his way. One of the females from Noosa’s pod has a large bite wound on the tip of her rostrum and it appears to have been caused by a powerful squid beak, sighted on her a few days ago it is interesting to watch the healing process and the power of protective blubber as it works to repair. Journeying with the King we began to move west and sighted just up ahead further blows from even more Orca, quickly followed by a large pod of 80+ Pilot Whales surfacing. One of the two females A380 was travelling with moved towards the Pilots and in an image captured by our marine scientist Vale we can see the outline of a young Orca to the right of the Pilots Whales, a unique moment of these two species interaction. It wasn’t long before A380 had lead us directly to his pod and we absorbed every special moment observing this incredible male travel with his family, a sight rarely captured in previous years. It is time to spread the word that the King is alive and well, Elvis is back in the Canyon!

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