Can Orca recognise you? During our time with the Orca of Bremer Bay we enjoy many close encounters and just as we recognise those familiar eye patches and dorsal fins, the Orca can also recognise us too. Firstly through sound with every vessels motor like a heartbeat and producing a unique rhythm and sound footprint, the Orca have learnt to recognise us. Secondly through vision, many times the Orca will approach and look directly back up towards everyone looking back at them. A truely special moment, this visual connection and recognition is sighted amongst cetacean species. It was a beautiful day with calm conditions and we had hardly begun moving over the continental shelf when the call went out, blows up ahead! It was big male El Notcho and his family moving to the west and as we journeyed with them for a while they regrouped and began to surge quickly as we found ourselves on the hunt. Down to the west we went as we found ourselves moving closer to the shelf and only 16 nautical miles from the Bremer Bay Boat Harbour.
It was now time to move back up towards The Patch and matriarch Cookie led the way as on our arrival we could see that Kidji and her family pod had completed a successful hunt. A large oil slick and many birds were lingering as the pod moved towards us and greeted everyone on the bow before moving to the stern, gorgeous calves Cubs and Cubby charged over in a hurry. They pivoted and looked up towards us as a small morsel of food was being carried between the two. We spent some time with this lovely family as they swam with us and we were welcomed into the pod. A little while later we joined with the creche as they relaxed and went into sleeping mode when blows could be sighted heading straight for us. It was Cubs and Cubby again as they excitedly moved towards our bow and pivoted yet again to look carefully towards us, these two have already learnt to recognise us and seek out our company for playtime. Can Orca recognise you? Yes, they most certainly can and we just love our Orca family!
