Killer Whales in March as the Bremer Bay Orca enjoyed the sunshine today as we enjoyed Swirl’s company as she danced under our feet. Soon after arriving we smiled to see a huge dorsal fin break right on our bow, it was Mr El Notcho. He cruised past as the rest of his family including matriarch Cookie surfaced close by and a flash of black and white began to torpedo towards us. It was Swirl who was swimming upside down to get a better view of everyone as she flew past the bow in record time. This continued throughout the morning as Swirl would surf towards us and roll onto her back, belly up and swivel underneath our bow which kept us busy looking right then left.
She seemed to enjoy amusing us as she continued to entertain with her curiosity and she also recruited youngest family member Oreo to join in with the fun. It was a beautiful interaction and soon all the fun had to ease a little bit, it was time to go hunting. The family pod regrouped and began to forage as we watched the constant surface and down times. There may have been a small meal captured as the Shearwaters began to argue behind us over a small scrap of food found on the surface. The girls of the family grouped together and moved to the east which left us with the wonderful company of El Notcho. Such an impressive male, his enormous dorsal fin is easy to recognise thanks to the large nick missing out of the middle. El Notcho was very relaxed and spent the rest of the afternoon sleeping only fifty meters away from us as he would rest for a little while and resurface closely in almost slow motion, a sleepy boy who enjoyed his afternoon siesta.
