Tactical Orca Predation on Beaked Whale it was today as multiple pods worked together for over three hours to secure their prey, the family to succeed was Queen of course! It was a beautiful day and always special when we have such calm conditions and Orca on arrival as our Pod Member Aaron did a fantastic job of spying them from the Captains Lounge. It was exciting to see Biggs and the family for the first time this season as they travelled together in stealth mode and it was clear to see that they were working on something important. A couple of hours went by with this foraging, focused dives and stealth mode activated it was clear that these Orca were honing in on what looked to be an unfortunate Beaked Whale. A small surge caused the pods to reshuffle and a burst of energy unfolded with Orca all around and moving quickly.
Settling again after a little while it appeared the Beaked Whale had pushed out to deeper water and guess who was waiting… Queen. The hunt was on and as the family surged we could see that Kidji and her family were also collaborating on this hunt as the Queen of the canyon took a step back to let the younger females combine from both families and take on the hunt of a juvenile Beaked Whale. The girls did very well indeed and within a short amount of time the hunt was completed as they pushed the Beaked Whale towards the surface before driving down and it was over quickly. A sad end for this unfortunate Beaked Whale who had done well to keep over fifty Orca under great focus for such a long period of time and almost got away, but Queen knew the exit path and was already there and waiting. Tactical Orca moves on a remarkable day made for a special cruise back to the coastline as we reflected on just how much effort and intelligence goes into every Orca hunt.
