Spying!

One thing that we often enjoy hearing from our residents is the creative and interesting ways they are using their freed-up capital.

Like Anna Wright, one of our Lifestylers who recently went whale watching and was happy to share her wonderful experience.

‘El Notcho’s’ pod put on a fishing masterclass this morning! With their natural instincts taking over they worked systematically, with each pod member having a role to play.

‘Swirl’ came in for a close pass, exactly as she did yesterday! She was on our stern and hung off to one side for an extra-long second.

The pod came back into their close formation, so we left them to have a rest and some peace and quiet! In the meantime, we ventured outside our hotspot into an unknown where we never know what we are going to find. We may come across another Cetacean species, or maybe more orca pods. It has proven to be a good move in the past, and we all had our fingers crossed.

It all seemed barren while searching, until the distinct brown bird swirl uncovered was about to be an epic afternoon.

Three calves belonging to ‘Split Tips’ pod came in FAST. They pumped their little tails and were underneath the vessels hulls within seconds. They endlessly rolled and pushed over each other, displaying behaviour that had been going on all season with these three little tackers. Over time, it was great to watch them gain independence by spending less and less time with their mothers and more with each other and the other whales.

‘Wonks’ really turned up the excitement this afternoon! He was also rolling, pushing and tumbling at the surface with ‘Split Tip’ and ‘Flapper’, plus her little calf too. The four of them would drop down for a few moments before coming back to the surface and being completely wrapped up in each other.

‘Wonks’ was then trying to navigate the surface by ‘spy-hopping’. He effortlessly rose up, giant pecs and all, with his eyes wide open taking us all in! A few close passes were also on his to-do list, before gently rolling over ‘Flapper’.

This behaviour continued for over an hour, and we finally left the hotspot with aching cheeks from smiling so much!!

Information in this article is true and correct as of 29 April 2022.