TIL that there are Killer Whales in waters off the coast of the Northern Territory. Which, in and of itself, is pretty dang cool. But then along comes this story and amps the neat factor up to eleven.
Luke Burton, a humble bloke with a boat and a penchant for fishing, happened upon the largest pod of Orcas ever spotted in the tropical waters off Australia’s northern coast. Better still, owing to it being 2015 and deep in the technological age, he had a pretty shithot camera on board with him and managed to take some fairly incredible footage.
The vision has stunned scientists, with the confirmed sighting being only the fourth time Orcas have been spotted in the region in the past two years – and more to that, the size of this pod was far larger than the previous pods of six that have been recorded.
Carol Palmer, a senior scientist at the Department of Land Resource Management, stated that the pod was likely a migratory family of animals that differs slightly in behaviour from normal Orca movement patterns.
“Potentially the ones in the Northern Territory, or the ones that we are getting across Northern Australia – because these guys probably travel from Queensland to WA I would say – is that they are sort of a genetically distinct population from the ocean-going ones.”
Meanwhile, Luke explained that he saw fins in the distance while on a fishing trip and drove the boat closer to investigate.
“She was pretty exciting, it got your blood pumping a bit. A bit of adrenalin. Even when they were next to boat we couldn’t really believe it. The smaller ones would’ve been at least two metres long and the larger ones were getting up to six or eight metres I reckon.”
Even better still, the footage shows a Bottlenose Dolphin frolicking with the pod at one point. Dolphins and whales being pals! Animal mates! THIS IS THE CUTEST THING EVER.
If you happen to be out and about on the waters of Northern Australia and come across a pod of Killer Whales like this one, it’s incredibly important you contact Marine WildWatch on 1800 453 941 so their position can be recorded.
