The Bremer Orca hunt unfolded today as yet another unfortunate Beaked Whale was captured by Queen and her family pod as they spent the day feeding and celebrating their success. Arriving in The Patch to a cloud of seabirds, heavy oil slick and busy Orca had us in suspense as everywhere we looked dorsal fins were moving left, right and straight towards us! It was Queen and her family who had made the kill and as they gathered together the celebrations began with breaching, spy hops and plenty of wrestling amongst the pod. It is always incredible to witness how these apex predators celebrate a successful hunt with much enthusiasm and excitement, although the little ones led the fun to begin with the adults soon joined in on the action. Amongst gatherings to share the meal they then continued to wrestle, chase and play all around us with plenty of tail slaps, dorsal fin slaps and even some magnificent breaching.
Wonks was getting flirty as he swam underneath Slater mimicking his flirty moves as the younger males will often do and that was when we sighted a little too much information. Often this part of a male Orcas anatomy is hidden away, concealed and out of sight but not today with Wonks for a brief moment near the surface! Play and social interactions can often follow a hunt as the family pods are happy, with food from their meal ensuring they can spend a little more of their time having fun rather than needing to forage immediately afterwards. Play continued for a very long time today along with feeding reflecting yet again that these Orca have certainly been hunting well over the last two weeks. The increase in prey availability within the confines of The Patch means a little less travel time, resulting in more energy that can be used for the joy of fun as we observed today.
