Orcas Hunting in the Patch as within moments of arriving we were met by Cookie and her family pod. Our morning firstly began with the company of Bruce the large male Australian Sea Lion who was hunting for his breakfast underneath our vessel and alongside the Bremer Bay Boat Harbour jetty. Arriving in the Patch it took only a few minutes before the call went out to our starboard side and as Cookie was swimming towards us to greet everyone and say good morning, it was a rather special way to start our day. A special Orca family who are one of the most well known and easily recognisable pods. El Notcho was swimming alongside pod members Oreo and Swirl as they travelled together in foraging mode looking for breakfast. Focusing in on one particular area of the Patch, they did eventually make a successful catch as small scraps of squid began to arrive on the surface as Shearwaters scrambled to capture their share with great aerodynamics.
A second pod moved into the hunting grounds and we smiled to see B-Slice and his family in the Orca hunting grounds. El Notcho approached them and as both families swam towards each other, there was a few moments of recognition before they both turned and continued on with the afternoons foraging. They were also very successful and after 40 minutes of hunting a huge oil slick began to form and followed them around everywhere they went, food was being carried. Enjoying their meal and savouring the afternoon we wished them well as we were escorted back to the coastline by Wandering Albatross and wonderful memories of time spent with wild Orca.
