Orca Play with Sunfish on a regular basis in the Bremer Canyons and today two young calves faced each other while belly to belly as they lifted the Sunfish above water level. It was a busy morning with four family pods sighted including Cookie and Cheryl as both families allowed the youngsters to play and socialise. Zooming around at top speeds, they raced with the swell to try and catch up with each other in an enthusiastic game of chase. It was beautiful to observe the families socialising together and watch as these important relationships continue to grow and develop amongst the calves and juveniles. During this time we could see the little ones had found something that they were carrying around with them, lifting up their prize high above the waters surface we could see a rather startled Sunfish looking back towards us!
Eventually he was allowed to be free as the family continued onwards with their day as foraging mode took over. Consistent down times and focused Orca spread out through The Patch in search of opportunities but appeared to not find anything too substantial. A thorough exploration through the hunting grounds was completed before Cheryl and her family regrouped and now it was time for an afternoon siesta. Resting quietly, they milled about the area for a while as everyone took this time to recharge the batteries and prepare for the next foraging stint ahead of them. The wakeup call was drastic as it appeared something had moved through The Patch quickly but the Orca were ready to go and launched into a surge towards the shelf. Blade and his family accelerated forwards and past the bow in a hurry as we joined with the surge, hopeful that this hunt would result in success for the family pod. A short while later it appeared their prey and evaded them as they regrouped and began to move back up into The Patch, the afternoon meal would have to wait a little while longer for these patient family pods.
