Bremer Bay Canyon - Orcas in abundance

Yesterday we booked a boat tour to Bremer Bay Canyon. It's quite expensive, but we've heard so many positive things about it. Bremer Bay Canyon is a about 3 km deep underwater canyon where a massive underwater feeding frenzy takes place at this time of year. All kinds of small and large fish gather here, including various whale and dolphin species, sharks of all sizes, and especially orcas. And we really wanted to see them in real life.

The day started pretty lousy though. The rooftop tent was still open for airing out, and we had just dressed warmly for the tour when a spontaneous rainstorm occurred. Luckily, only one side of the bed got wet, but I got completely soaked when closing the rooftop tent😳

Anyway, changed clothes and got on the boat. We set off shortly after 8 am and returned 8 hours later. A whole day at sea. And it was constantly rocking, and it rained lightly most of the time. The rocking caused Birgit to get seasick after an hour, even though we had taken precautions with medication the night before😔 She had to endure 7 hours in that condition. It was no fun! But she sat outside the whole time and still saw things. Maybe more than most people on other days. Because things were really happening out there that day!

A research boat had already gone out before us. And they witnessed the orcas pushing down a juvenile blue whale. No one has ever seen something like this here! And it was then devoured right on the spot in the next few hours. An oil film formed on the water surface and flocks of seabirds took care of the leftover food that kept resurfacing. That set the stage for us. Several orca families, estimated between 60 and 80 animals, were busy feeding for hours. And since they had to surface again and again to breathe, we were thoroughly entertained. For over 5 hours, there wasn't a single minute where you wouldn't see at least one of the animals, often even groups. It couldn't get any better than this!

But at dinner in the restaurant (Bremer Bay Resort), Birgit already enjoyed her meal again!

PS: I didn't ruin the moment by constantly tracking moving objects through the viewfinder. I enjoyed every minute. The pictures are taken by a professional photographer who was on board.