Matriarchs in The Patch today as Queen and Kidji returned to the foraging grounds with their families. Moments after arriving in The Patch the call of Orca went out as jet black dorsal fins broke the waters surface. The Shearwaters and Albatross were fervent this morning and looked hungry as they shadowed every movement of the Orca. Queen came straight over to the bow for morning greetings as the rest of her family followed in behind. The morning was relaxed for the family pod as they didn’t venture too far from the grounds and seemed content on honing in some time in The Patch. The last couple of weeks has seen some of the regular families venturing further afield in search of food so it is a nice time for the families to hang out for a little while without extended travel time.
A short distance from Queen was Kidji and her family pod also relaxing and we smiled to see Chalky, Hookfin and Stella still hanging out with them. The three big boys including Blade cruised the feeding grounds and it is always an impressive sight to see these mature male Orca. The males get on well and the relationships built between family pods last for generations. Youngsters in the family kept close to their mums today as the family transitioned from resting to foraging throughout the day. Queens family were successful in a small hunt which appeared to be squid as a slick formed at the surface in the early afternoon, a quick snack for them all to enjoy. The families seemed happy to be back after what has been a few travel days for them all as the matriarchs in The Patch allowed their family pods to hang out at home for the day.
