Tag: Albatross

Our Whale Watching Tours in Augusta have been incredible so far this season with hundreds of whale sightings and incredible opportunities to Learn the Language of the Whales™ and today was no exception. A resting Albatross was our first sighting for the morning and due to the stronger winds over the last two weeks he seemed to be taking it easy after being blown in towards the coast. Take off as he paddled his feet as fast as he could and was airborne just as two large Humpbacks Whales surfaced only meters away. These two were swimming together perfectly and showed signs of being a male/female escort pod who seemed to be in a hurry, possibly moving away quickly from that competition pod behind them! Four whales were racing towards us with the female leading the way and three males pushing, charging and jostling for position. They swam towards and underneath us as the males tried to use our large vessel as a distraction and obstacle to slow the others down.

Two other Humpback Whales were further ahead and seemed interested in what was unfolding, as they approached the males slowed down and it was at this important moment one of the males was too distracted by the others and the remaining two males and female continued their competition as they raced towards the reef line. Two of the individuals who had left the area, including one of the males with the unique fluke, joined us close to the Southern Right Whale nursery ground and slowly investigated us. The many reasons why we love our whale watching tours in Augusta is the opportunity to sight two species in one day and the young Southern Right calves of Flinders Bay were putting on a bit of a show. Lifting their flukes above the surface and practicing tail slapping, little Stacka encouraged one of the second Southern Rights in the nursery ground to respond by also doing a few gentle tail slaps of her own.

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The Augusta Winter Whale Watching Season officially began today as we welcomed the first day of winter for 2018. The day was filled with Humpback Whale trios with one in the morning and another sighted in the afternoon travelling through Flinders Bay. The first Humpback trio we met this morning had one individual who was uniquely marked with old scars and what appeared to be healed skin lesions. This very unique looking individual decided to roll completely upside down and swim belly up a few meters below the surface as we traced the luminescent glow.

During the afternoon we had yet another Humpback trio and it looked to be a mother and her yearling calf being followed closely by a young male. The beautiful underside fluke that the mother/calf pair showed as they tail dived was almost identical to each other and their very own fingerprint for future identification. The trio slowly started to pickup speed as another two pods could be sighted further ahead and they shuffled in alongside our vessel. One of the second pods further in front did not seem pleased with their arrival and a large Humpback launched into the air as 30+ tonnes landed after an amazing breach! It was quickly followed by another and a few peduncle slaps to send a strong message across to the approaching pod. They seemed to get the message and changed course slightly to avoid getting too close to this very talkative Humpback who was focused on keeping his travelling companion to himself.

Albatross soared and we sighted Indian Yellow-Nosed, Shy and Black Browed Albatross along with Antarctic Skua and Wilsons Storm Petrels also sighted. Due to Cape Leeuwin being located on the most south western point of the Australian coastline we have a wonderful opportunity to sight many pelagic seabird species much closer to the coast. A perfect first winters day for the beginning of the Augusta Winter Whale Watching Season.

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The Perth Canyon was shining once again on yet another magnificent day and Australasian Gannets escorted us towards the continental shelf where our search began for the hazy distant blow of the Blue. Searching carefully we could see the occasional tiny Wilsons Storm Petrel looking for a morsel on the surface and a Gannet scanning carefully above us. Straight ahead and just like a rocket the powerful seven meter blow of a Blue Whale raced skyward and could be easily seen, off we went! A very relaxed and young Blue greeted us on our arrival in the area and seemed to be resting in-between downtimes with little movement from the original sighting area. Everyone jumped when she resurfaced a short distance behind us and she almost seemed pleased to have caught us all unaware as the turquoise blue shine showed a perfect example of how they coined their name.

The bird activity started to increase slightly as we moved further along the Perth Canyon and a resting Albatross was observing the fifty or so Gannets in the area that were diving on schools of baitfish. Generally where there are fish and birds we can almost always guarantee the Dolphins won’t be too far away and sure enough the porpoising sturdy bodies of Offshore Bottlenose Dolphins raced towards us. The whole pod eventually surrounded our vessel with approximately 100 individuals seeming to enjoy a bit of social time right next to and in front of us. Amongst the Offshore Bottlenose there were also a few beautifully marked Common Dolphins with their big yellow tinged bellies who had also joined the afternoon feed of fish.

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Our first encounter was heartwarming as we sighted the small blows and distinctive movements of Pilot Whales moving through the Bremer Canyon. The closer they came the more of them we sighted, literally hundreds of Pilot Whales! Sadly losing many due to a stranding only a day earlier it was encouraging to sight so many including a brand new calf. The groups were separated into pods of 80-120 individuals with seven of these pods counted in the area. There was also a group of twelve Offshore Bottlenose Dolphins travelling with the Pilot Whales through the Bremer Canyon.

They stayed close tho our vessel and we joined the pod as they continued cruising at a steady pace. The young calf stayed close to mum as the younger juveniles tail slapped and swam backwards trying to impress each other. Although hard to leave them we had sighted the muffled blow of a Sperm Whale earlier in the morning and we could see not far away he had resurfaced once again. He logged quietly on the surface as he prepared himself for his next sounding dive by replenishing his oxygen levels. Slowly and very gracefully he lifted his fluke as he disappeared down towards the bottom of the canyon underneath us which was 1.2 kilometres down! Shy Albatross, Indian Yellow Nosed Albatross, Black Browed Albatross and a juvenile Wandering Albatross followed us throughout the day as our spirits were lifted on the way home to have seen so many happy and healthy Pilot Whales.

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The Bremer Canyon is unique and no other submarine canyon in the world is the same. The largest known congregation of Orca in the Southern Hemisphere gathers during the summer months every year in and around the waters of the Bremer Canyon. Sperm Whales, Pilot Whales, False Killer Whales, Beaked Whales, Seals, Sharks, Sunfish and an amazing array of pelagic seabirds also gather here to join the season. Squid is believed to be one of the main draw cards for the immense congregation of predators during the months of January to March each year. The importance of monitoring and learning about the environment of the Bremer Canyon is vital and that is why the canyon is protected by the Bremer Commonwealth Marine Reserve.

There is a group of eighty one canyons that run along the continental shelf in Australia’s South West region from Cape Leeuwin to just east of Esperance. These submarine canyons play host to a large variety of wildlife throughout the year and different seasons. Every canyon is unique with some more highly productive than others depending on their location and topography. A shelf incision canyon is a special situation where deep waters can reach the continental shelf by the incision from the canyon and allow for upwelling. The Bremer Canyon acts as an important connection from the continental shelf to the deep nutrient rich waters found at its depths of over four kilometres.

 

Life prospers in these unique environments and the entire food chain is reliant on each other for survival and efficiency of energy. This is why it is of most importance to protect these submarine canyons as they are the start of the food chain and beginning stages for larvae and phytoplankton. The Orca, apex predators of every ocean in the world, would not be able to survive if it were not for these canyons providing a reliable food source. Every predator in the ocean is reliant on a seasonal food source peak, something that they will travel thousands of kilometres for without hesitation because they know their next meal is ready and waiting for them. Let us make sure that we do not affect this meal and leave them with an empty table upon their return by continuing the establishment of Commonwealth Marine Reserves.

Acknowledgement and thanks to Geo Science Australia for the images.

 

You never know what you will find when you whale watch in the Bremer Canyon. Our morning began with beautiful Orca as El Notcho and his family surfaced close by. Mother and calf raced over towards our vessel with high energy before continuing their morning of foraging. The distant muffled blow of a Sperm Whale caught our attention as a young male replenished oxygen levels. He seemed rather relaxed and was in no rush to dive, perhaps because of the passing bulk carrier. Sperm Whales hunt through use of their echolocation and this can be effected by noise around them. Perhaps he was patiently waiting for the bulk carrier to move past before continuing is morning brunch.

The sneaky motion of a sharks dorsal slinked past and we were excited to see a two meter long Hammerhead. This individual was only a young one as when fully grown he can be up to six meters long! Small Skipjack Tuna jumped close by and this seemed to be what was attracting the attention of this curious Hammerhead Shark. Scanning the horizon we could see a strange bobbing hand “waving” at us… this was of course a sleepy New Zealand Fur Seal who was having some relax time on the surface. Seeing us approach he took interest and had a good look at everyone onboard. Needing to maintain a comfortable core body temperature, keeping his flippers above the waterline is a wonderful way to cool down and thermoregulate.

Flesh Footed Shearwater, Shy Albatross, Black-Browed Albatross, Indian Yellow Nosed Albatross and tiny Wilsons Storm Petrels were busy looking for their next meal. The incredible achievements of an Albatross are staggering with a 13,000 kilometre trip to find one meal for their chick a normal part of life. The Wilsons Storm Petrel at only 40 grams is the smallest warm blooded animal to breed in the Antarctic. The dainty Flesh Footed Shearwater can easily live for over thirty years with almost all of those years spent out at sea. The seabirds of the world have an incredible story to tell!

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There was a stampede on the horizon in the Bremer Canyon today as we arrived on a beautiful morning after departing Bremer Bay. The white water of moving bodies could be seen ahead as over 200 Long Finned Pilot Whales and a few Offshore Bottlenose Dolphins cruised past. Approaching our vessel to investigate we could see their beautiful markings and two brand new calves who had only recently been born. We continued the search for Orca and it was yet another stampede of Pilot Whales and energy that attracted our attention and sure enough, there were the Orca!

The Orca seemed very pleased to meet us as they came over and we could see that this was one of the familiar families known in the Bremer Canyon. They had been following us for a little while as they surfaced just off our stern and not far from the Pilot Whales. We often sight this behaviour with other species such as Humpbacks who will use our sound footprint to sneak up on others, and in this case the Orca were making a stealthy approach towards the Pilots.

Moving into the area again they appeared to be giving the Pilot Whales a move along before returning back into their marching formation. After making our sighting prior to lunch we enjoyed watching them throughout the afternoon and studying their movement and behaviour. Upon our return we could see along the beach our lovely Pearl, the Australian Sea Lion and she was enjoying her evening dinner of fish and even decided to turn it into a flying fish at one stage!

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The hunting techniques of Orca (Killer Whales) vary greatly around the world and from one pod to another. Specialised hunters will focus on one food source while generalist hunters can consume a wide variety ranging from fish through to other marine mammals. Today we certainly were thinking about the hunting behaviour of the Orca of Bremer Canyon as we watched for the second time this season a pod of Orca shadowing a large bull Sperm Whale, were they planning on pilfering the hard earned meal from the largest toothed predator on the planet? It definitely seemed that way as we watched the Sperm Whale focus on replenishing his oxygen levels after a deep dive while the Orca lingered around only 100 meters away.

The large male Orca who seemed most keen on staying close to the Sperm Whale was Kodja, a well known male from the Bremer Canyon who was named after the Aboriginal Noongar word for spear. His name certainly is fitting for such a large male Orca who was showing us his hunting thought pattern but today may not have been the right time so the pod of five continued their forage along the canyon wall. The breach of a much loved Orca known as Swirl caught our attention and she raced over to greet us like a long lost friend, even though we had seen her just a day ago! The rest of Swirls pod joined up with us and as one we marched back towards The Patch as the afternoon sun changed their hunting behaviour once again.

A sleepy New Zealand Fur Seal was looking rather motionless on the surface before his big whiskers spun around to look up at everyone on the bow, he seemed pleased to see us and decided it was time to show off his thermoregulation which is most commonly seen in marine mammals. The NZ Fur Seals will hold onto their flippers above the oceans surface to regulate their core body temperature, a breeze will cool the blood down while the warm sun will increase the warmth of their blood as it travels back to their core, this way they can maintain the perfect temperature in between diving for the next meal!

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The birds had found something interesting on the surface of the Southern Ocean and we could hear the muffled squabbles of arguing Flesh Footed Shearwater. The reason for the noise was quickly sighted, squid was floating on the surface and even the Albatross had joined in for the breakfast feast! We had the perfect opportunity to capture what remained of an Orca’s morning meal and with a little bit of patience a small amount of squid was collected and will be passed on to researchers who will be able to use this to determine which species of squid the pelagic seabirds and Australian Orca had been enjoying.

The Orca must have been close and as we scanned the calm oceans surface we sighted in the distance a very large dorsal of a male Orca and it was quickly followed by fourteen others. Joining up with this large pod we sighted two well known individuals including the handsome young male Bear and the very special Lucky who is missing her dorsal fin. The importance of the dorsal fin for an Orca includes their balance and most interestingly it helps in keeping their body temperature correct. During the summer months on warmer days (especially if you have a thick blubber layer!) and when working hard while hunting it would be easy for a large Orca to feel the heat . The dorsal fin breaking the surface and making contact with the ocean breeze will assist in heat loss and keep their core body temperature at the right level.

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There was energy in the air as we arrived where distant blows were sighted and the flash of black and white captured our attention as they flew past our bow. We had arrived in the middle of a very big game with eight young Orca including a teenage male twisting, rolling and spy hopping their hearts out! Observing this incredible behaviour allowed us to witness this next generation of apex predators practicing in play the skills they will need to be successful hunters. The teenage male had all the little ones jumping all over him and trying to push his blowhole below the surface, thankfully it was just practice otherwise he may have been outnumbered!

Further ahead we joined up with the older adults of the pod who were busy actively foraging for the next meal, with all of that energy being used by the young ones lunch was going to be important! The steady movements as they tracked along the Bremer Canyon were fascinating to watch before a change of direction had the whole group rejoin and the youngest calves reunite with their mums. A small Hammerhead Shark and beautiful Albatross followed the activities closely today as we enjoyed every moment of watching the playful interactions between pod members and we even found ourselves being welcomed into the game in Orca Kindergarten.

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Today we sighted three of the most elusive species who frequent the offshore coastline of Western Australia and it only happens in the Bremer Canyon! Orca, Sperm Whale and Long Finned Pilot Whales were all sighted today during an enormous morning with these world class hunters. The Orca were first to greet us and as they cruised through the canyon we could see black torpedoes charging towards them at full speed as the Long Finned Pilot Whales made a big entrance to the scene! The Orca moved away from the Pilot Whales and dispersed their line further across the canyon as the Pilots regrouped and continued their forward charge to the East.

Shortly after we could see in the distance a muffled angled blow that was coming from a very large and wrinkly body… we had a Sperm Whale! He was a beautiful individual who was replenishing his oxygen levels before going for his next feeding dive but made sure he left an impression as his enormous fluke gracefully lifted from the waters surface and the fluke waterfall began as he disappeared into the deep blue. It was only moments later that the blows of the Orca captured our attention and they raced over towards our vessel playing and surfing around our bow as we watched the apex predators race towards us and under our feet.

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The fast porpoising movement of 40+ Long Finned Pilot Whales racing across the Bremer Canyon certainly is a beautiful sight. The sleek and magnificently marked patterns of Pilot Whales as they break the waters surface is unique to them and the whole family was on a mission this morning! Giant Wandering Albatross and Flesh Footed Shearwater raced to keep up with the fast moving pod and food was captured somewhere along the journey as the Shearwaters plummeted into the Southern Ocean trying to capture a small morsel.

We also sighted two large Sunfish today and one took the time to take a very good look at us by popping his head above the waters surface and we could see his very big eyes! Offshore Bottlenose Dolphin were also travelling along with the Long Finned Pilot Whales today and it was interesting to observe the behaviour amongst the two species. Pilot Whales are after all one of the largest of the oceanic Dolphin species with the Orca being the largest. Although today we did not sight Orca this is why we guarantee that you will sight the whale species of your tour or you travel again with us free of charge until you do.

Miss Pearl, the Australian Sea Lion who calls the Bremer Harbour her home, had a very good dinner tonight and captured herself a lovely meal of fish. Amazingly she decided to bring her prize over to the jetty as she showed off what she was having for dinner! Be sure to keep an eye open for Pearl next time you are in the harbour.

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