Orcas | Find Wild Photos

The Orcas of Ningaloo Reef.

Scientific name: Orcinus orca.

Trophic level: Carnivorous.

It's a 6,000km swim from Antarctica to Ningaloo Reef for the Humpback Whales of Western Australia. A long journey, but it's worth it for the opportunity to calf and recover in the reefs' surrounding warm, calm waters.

Orcas, or Killer Whales, arrive at the same time, but for a different reason.
The 40,000+ migration of Humpback Whales and their calves create a short but unique food source that they aspire to take advantage of.

Despite being at the top of the food chain, there are no easy meals for the Orcas that visit Ningaloo Reef. Trying to separate a calf from a group of fiercely protective 30 tonne adult Humpbacks quickly escalates into a titanic and dangerous battle.

The Humpbacks' size and determination means that the hunts often have to be aborted by the Orcas. While triumph for the Humpback mother strengthens an emotional bond she shares with her calf... ... for a small family of Orcas, missing out on their prey has a cost.

The huge risks they have taken and the energy they have used during a hunt have all been for nothing, and the mother Orca has mouths to feed as well. She has devastatingly lost her last two calves and for a population that is thought to only be a handful of individuals in the region, unsuccessful hunts put mounting pressure on the younger members of the pod's survival.

These images are of one successful hunt I witnessed.

Some images may be distressing.

The family were slowly meandering along the back of the reef, when something changed.
There was suddenly a new direction, pace and deliberateness to their movements.

A clash of the Titans. Once they are side by side, the power and mass of the Humpbacks is clearly visible.

With fading light and poor visibility, the risks to the Orcas of injury is very real. With strength and skill this Orca uses a spy-hop to thrust itself as high as a passing bird. With a better view of the Humpbacks' position, they can now consider an approach.

In this instance the hunt was successful for the family. Unfortunately for the Humpbacks, despite a long and tough battle, they were not able to protect their calf this time.

The Orcas carefully share the food between their family. Any remains feed the rest of the food chain with birds collecting enough from the surface to take back to their nests, and anything that sinks past the sharks and fish dropping down to the deeper parts of the ocean where food is scarce and any scrap is highly valued.

A few special moments were witnessed on this day, but when the Orcas breach we are normally too much in awe to capture the moment. This time, luckily I was looking down the lens.

This was the last photo on my camera reel for the day.

If you do get the chance to witness Orcas on Ningaloo Reef ensure you respect these wild animals. You can do this by following whale watching regulations (not approaching closer than 100m from the side or 300m from in front or behind) and give all of the animals extra space on top of this if you think a hunt is underway.

Thankyou John Totterdell for sharing your knowledge and passion for these animals with me.