With low winds and a sunny day ahead of us, we were excited to see what the day was to hold and what a fantastic day on the water it turned out to be!
As we approached the hotspot deckhand, Luke, was up on the roof, calling pilot whales ahead, and we spotted a massive pod of over 200 whales!
Pilot whale pods can reach up to 1000 strong — these are called megapods!
It was incredible to see families with calves cruising around us. Soon after another pod of pilot whales was spotted and swimming amongst them were oceanic bottlenose dolphins!
Pilot whales, like other toothed whales (odontocetes) use a special sense to gain an understanding of their surroundings, called echolocation.
Echolocation is the ability to use reflected sound waves to locate objects, identify them, and avoid or capture them.
Spotted next was a plastic float covered in goose barnacles which was quickly retrieved to avoid any organisms becoming entrapped in its hanging ropes.
But there was still no sign of the killer whales.
We decided to head west in search of the killer whales but remained unsuccessful and had nearly lost hope. As we headed back toward the hotspot, finally a cry of excitement could be heard from the back deck as Swirl, a known female from Cookie’s group rose from the surface.
Once following her we noticed many blows around us but they were spaced out and busy. Likely foraging down below, showing little to no interest in us. After staring at the ocean, Razor and her pod showed up nearby and her curious little calf. Blade, popped his head up at the bow of the boat to get a closer look.
When Orcas poke their heads up out of the water to inspect what is going on above the surface it’s called a ‘spyhop’. What a way to finish another day in beautiful Bremer Bay!
-Naturaliste Charters
This post was adapted from a Facebook post, read the original here.
Photographs captured by Keith Lightbody and Machi Yoshida. Blog written by Marine Biologist Intern, Indi Letch-Avenell.
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