Orca Calves Takeover Bremer Canyon

Orca calves takeover Bremer Canyon today as five family Orca pods hunted in the Patch. Just like any get-together, this exciting day was most enjoyed by the youngest members of each pod as the calves enjoyed some social and play time. Our first interaction was with Cookie and El Notcho’s pod as they foraged with much focus in the early morning. Cookie’s calf Oreo was happy to see us and gently approached with mum by his side to have a good look. A further two family pods had joined together in the heart of the Patch and we watched as Queen and Noosa’s family pods replicated almost a mirror image of yesterday as they came together and began to forage. Queen glided past our bow with little Stormy following and once she had re-grouped everyone they began to surge.

Powerful movements as the whole pod moved as one and lifted themselves gracefully above the surface of the ocean, creating Orca fireworks as they went with white water flying. Eventually the surge came to a sudden halt and a flash of brown was sighted to our port side, it may have been a Beaked Whale but it was just the one glimpse and nothing further so we weren’t able to confirm. A shiny oil slick followed shortly after the surge and we watched as another two pods moved into the area. Alki and her family swam straight past our bow and it was wonderful to see little Grace pop up for a quick hello. We all giggled as she surfaced alongside pod member Slater and bumped off his side as her re-surfacing technique is still needing some  practice. Our final interaction was with beautiful B-Slice and cheeky calf Blade who zoomed over to us and played underneath our bow as the rest of the family were sharing food on a very special day in the Bremer Canyon.