The incredible run of orca whale sightings continued this week, we saw them on all 13 tours, and we are now up to 43 tours in a row seeing orcas. This week we had encounters with the T046B, T075B, T077, T109A2, T065B, T075, T86A, and T124A families of killer whales.
This was another week with a lot of incredible orca encounters, but on Thursday evening’s tour we met up with T109A2 family on the south side of Stuart Island. We watched and followed along as they were traveling the shoreline, and as they neared the southeast end of Stuart Island, they made a left hand turn and decided to go into a very small little bay called Reid harbor. They went deep into the bay, the furthest I’ve ever seen orcas go into Reid Harbor. As they got to the back of the bay there was a big splash of water and we immediately recognized the hunt was on. They had found a harbor seal. They spent quite awhile taking the harbor seal down, probably to let the youngsters in the family have their turn practicing hunting. Eventually it was dinner time, and afterwards there was some celebratory spyhopping and breaching. It was a sight to see, especially in the tight little bay.
Can’t wait to see what this week of whale watching adventures brings!
