Love is in the air as big male Kai showed off to the ladies today and we found ourselves head over heals for this handsome boy as the Pilot Whales decided to crash the party. It was a cloudy and cool cruise out to The Patch today and we were excited to not only look out for the Orca but also catchup with John Totterdell who has arrived to complete his annual Bluefin Tuna survey. John and his team had found Cookie and her family pod foraging and it was a lovely gift for our Pod Members onboard to have John organise the Orca to be ready and waiting for us on our arrival, wouldn’t that be nice if it happened everyday! Joining with the family they cruised with us for a while and we noticed Queen and her family pod now moving into the area as they all joined together and began to move out to the west with energy. A familiar male dorsal fin surfaced and we smiled to see that Kai was paying the area a visit today and he was in a very flirty mood.
Signalling his arrival Kai launched into full body breaching which was spectacular to observe and what an entrance. The big display got the girls attention and lifted all of the Orcas energy as tail slapping could be seen from many excited individuals. Kai had approached members of Cookie’s family pod and as he went belly up to swim underneath the girls and flirt away we noticed El Notcho looking a little concerned. Swimming directly at Kai he seemed to be letting him know to settle down and not keep hassling the girls, especially as they are his girls and family members. Kai didn’t take much notice as he peeled back briefly before racing back up to continue his serenade to the ladies. The rest of the family were excited as they began to play and wrestle amongst each other and it was a very entertaining interaction to observe.
All was going so well for Kai with the ladies until a wall of white water on the horizon began to close in on the area. Pilot Whales, over two hundred individuals, charged towards the area and Kai had to put a hold on his flirty moves as the Orca regrouped and moved quickly to evade the surging Pilot Whales. Kai and El Notcho worked together as they kept the girls ahead of them with the Pilots within only a few meters away at times. A high paced charge back up to the east ended with the Orca finally outmanoeuvring the Pilot Whales who became distracted from the chase as they reverted to foraging mode. Kai was now travelling with Cookie and the family, we look forward to seeing if this cheeky boy will remain in the area for the next little while.
