This one is rare!! I can not stress that enough. I am very fortunate to live in a location where I would encounter orca from a small vessel multiple times a day for 6 months of the year. Then to cruise in a large ship scanning for orca in the Gerlache Strait can be easy and the chances of siting them from the ship whilst in transit to your next scheduled excursion location becomes quite high. However, spotting them whilst driving an hour or an hour and a quarter zodiac cruise is not so high.
One morning at 530am whilst scanning the area for orca as we got closer to Orne Harbour, which was our first day on the Peninsular with our new guests I spotted of a pod of small type B's aka Gerlache Killer Whales along the shoreline of the continent. YES!!! My heart skips a beat usually at that first moment I 100% know that I have spotted orca. Love that feeling.
The awesome news there was close to 20 of them and they were heading in the same direction as we were, which meant they might be within distance to interact with them from the smaller zodiac vessel. BOOM! To me this was the perfect way to end 2017. The only way to start the new year of 2018.
We got into the small zodiacs, which are lowered from the top deck via small cranes by our amazing ship crew. I get into my zodiac and head out of the small harbour to try and locate the pod with my binoculars. No such luck. I load up my zodiac with 10 guests from all over the world and let them know we are going on a hunt, an adventure. A hunt for orca.
After a moments of scanning and searching – CONTACT!! an awesome sight of numerous black fins about a mile a head of my vessel. We get closer and these animals get curious and come over for a quick investigation.
20 minutes later their behaviour started to change and they picked up their speed. A clear sign to me that they are ready to move off and say goodbye. That we stopped and watched them cruise off into the strait with a landscape of ice and glaciers.
A perfect way to end the year of 2017.
For more of my photos check out my Instagram feed: https://www.instagram.com/thomas_mitchell2912/
thomasjmitchell , you came out of nowhere and you are killing it in Steem with stunning content. This truly shows that when one is dedicated success does not take long to follow.
thomasjmitchell is a straight shooter and I am glad to see that he continues to give solid advice.
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
Such amazing animals. Apparently we incorrectly translated their names ... Their Latin name was translated as Killer Whales but it should actually be whale killers!
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
Wow ! Amazing Pictures. @thomasjmitchell
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
Great post,friend!! Nature have much to offer. I love to visit this continent. These whales should be preserved by all means,even as man's activities are impacting greatly on our globe. IUCN have a role to play even as global warming is affecting these creatures.
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
Awesome adventure.
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
Oh, it looks so cold.
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
Beautiful Adventure!
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
Whales have always been my favorite animals on earth! They're such friendly and gentle giants who have unfortunately become an endangered species...Thanks for the amazing backstory and photos!
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
Hard winter... i m not fine life there. Good photo @thomas
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
Love the whale pictures with the fantastic backdrop, keep them coming!
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
upvoted&followed :)
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
wow very nice :)
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
Good photo stories...
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
You sir, are a lucky guy to encounter these awesome animals! We need to protect them ! Orcas are so smart and beautiful, impressive creatures !
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
I'm so envious you've found such a great job, observing and preserving nature's beautiful monsters and their environment through showcasing them to others. It must be magical. Great pictures and a fantastic story. I bet it's a bit intimidating being in such a small craft with such amazing giants.
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
Sounds like an amazing experience!
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
Felicidades, eres privilegiado a poder fotografiar esas grandiosas orcas.
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
How thrilling to not only spot the orcas but to get so close to that pod! Great post, thanks for sharing.
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
Congratulations @thomasjmitchell, this post is the ninth most rewarded post (based on pending payouts) in the last 12 hours written by a User account holder (accounts that hold between 0.1 and 1.0 Mega Vests). The total number of posts by User account holders during this period was 3085 and the total pending payments to posts in this category was $13435.53. To see the full list of highest paid posts across all accounts categories, click here.
If you do not wish to receive these messages in future, please reply stop to this comment.
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
Its really great friend. Thank for sharing it.
Follow....
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
I wasn’t aware killer whales were in the Antarctic. Thank you for sharing.
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit