Tuesday, October 04, 2011

Incredible Transient Orca Encounter! Oct 1st, 2011






























This was the perfect trip to start off the month of October, with 5 Transient Orcas found by our vessel Fastcat just west of Trial Island:) This saved us a long trip out East to Eastern Bank, where the only other Orcas we'd heard of that day were located.

Sometimes you just have to be at the right place at the right time and that was certainly the case this afternoon:) Not only did we find these Orcas close to home but not long after we spotted them we witnessed them chasing a poor helpless Common Murre....... a very dramatic chase indeed! We watched in awe as the Orcas tracked the poor little bird from below the surface and then lunged at it at times coming right out of the water:) Look carefully at the photo's and you can see the poor bird trying to escape. This is not the first time Transient Orcas have tormented an unsuspecting bird, they will use it as a training mechanism for juveniles and also do this type of behavior for fun! We believe the little Common Murre did escape in the end.

The Orcas then moved in a south west direction towards Race Rocks. Whilst we visited Race Rocks we also found T31, hunting in the kelp beds for Harbor Seals.

Today was our lucky day, finding 5 Transient Orcas near Trial Island, then finding at least 6 Humpback Whales south of race Rocks (see separate post) and then T31 at Race Rocks, what an amazing day:)

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