Why Do Killer Whales Breach? Today the Killer Whales of Bremer Bay were breaching to communicate to their pod members it was playtime! Our morning began peacefully as Cookie and her family greeted us just have they have done over the last few days as they moved out to the east covering ground efficiently and spreading their Orca net. Calm conditions and the big blue of the ocean below was mesmerising with the surfacing of black and white breaking up the calm of the morning scene. Wishing Cookie well with her foraging ahead we moved out and were soon surrounded by Queen and her family pod who were relaxed and moving together. The family was content and in no hurry as they appeared to ease into resting mode for a little while. Surfacing close to us and moving slowly it appeared everyone was taking a quick catnap while they could. The energy broke quickly as a small tail slap followed up by a tail lob erupted into the whole family launching into breaching.
It was spectacular as Queen, Noosa, Wonks and the calves all joined in as they launched themselves above the still ocean effortlessly. Orca will breach for a number of different reasons including hunting tactics, communication and fun. Today it was all about communication as the family signalled to the calves to join together and the little ones wasted no time in letting the fun times begin. The rest of the afternoon was spent socialising as all around us the calves would chase each other before wrestling and then surging back to the elders of the family pod who were still slowly on the move. Samurai, Stormy, Stevie, Opal and Bubbles made the most of playtime as all four calves had an absolute ball playing. It was beautiful to see how the adult Orca in the family sat back and relaxed as the little ones played, it seemed to be a reward for the calves after all their hard work foraging over the last few days.
