Orca

[Seal diver]

Very short I'm afraid (2 secs) but a clip as an Orca passed me in Arctic waters off northern Norway:

YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.

Interestingly these orca which predominantly eat herring have been seen taking the occassional seal and the odd seabird! So much for them taking herring only!
I always have thought these these orca are probably the same ones seen rarely off Aberdeen & NE UK coast.

Safe diving,
Ben ("Sealdiver")

[John Gulliver]

Very short, as you say, but a nice sequence. Was this in Tysfiord? It's the first time I've heard that "Norwegian" orcas prey on seals.

[triplefin]

Wow what a great experience that must have been!

Yes orcas can eat both fish and mammal, but usually have a preference. Two types resident and transcient orca. Resident ones tend to have a diet of fish whilst the transcient orca will eat mammals - seals sealions, dolphins, porposises, minke etc
Both types look very similar but there are differences The top of the dorsal fin of Transient orcas tends to be more pointed than that of Resident orcas. Less obvious, the saddle patch ( the grey pigmentation along the side & behind the dorsal fin ) is further forward on Transients.
But it is usually diet that tells them apart

[Richard Mason]

Originally Posted by triplefin

Wow what a great experience that must have been!

Yes orcas can eat both fish and mammal, but usually have a preference. Two types resident and transcient orca. Resident ones tend to have a diet of fish whilst the transcient orca will eat mammals - seals sealions, dolphins, porposises, minke etc
Both types look very similar but there are differences The top of the dorsal fin of Transient orcas tends to be more pointed than that of Resident orcas. Less obvious, the saddle patch ( the grey pigmentation along the side & behind the dorsal fin ) is further forward on Transients.
But it is usually diet that tells them apart

Is that worldwide or just in Northern Europe? We see them occasionally down here - not too many big shoals of fish but plenty of seals, penguins and dolphins.

[John Gulliver]

Originally Posted by triplefin

Wow what a great experience that must have been!

Yes orcas can eat both fish and mammal, but usually have a preference. Two types resident and transcient orca. Resident ones tend to have a diet of fish whilst the transcient orca will eat mammals - seals sealions, dolphins, porposises, minke etc
Both types look very similar but there are differences The top of the dorsal fin of Transient orcas tends to be more pointed than that of Resident orcas. Less obvious, the saddle patch ( the grey pigmentation along the side & behind the dorsal fin ) is further forward on Transients.
But it is usually diet that tells them apart

What you say applies to the orcas in British Columbia and Washington State, where there are two populations. The residents are there all the time, of course, and the transients migrate between the Sea of Cortes, Mexico, (winter months) and BC (summer).
The orcas in northern Norway (around Lofoten) follow the herring shoals which migrate from the waters south of Iceland to Norway every autumn. The orcas are there all winter. They do NOT normally eat anything else than herring and I have never heard of their preying on seals before. It must be extremely rare but perhaps the herring population is being depleted so that they have started to seek an alternative food source.

[Seal diver]

In mid to late Nov next year I will be organising a long weekend trip (arrive Thursday, snorkel/dive Frid/Sat/Sun depart Mon) to northern Norway to snorkel with orca.

There will also be the potential to dive (scuba) at night (i.e anytime after 1530hrs!) with herring and possible chance encounters with orca underwater / feeding.
The details will be confirmed soon but the trip will not be cheap (although it will be done not for profit.) as Norway is expensive.

It is likely that we will be based on a large boat with diving facilities and use a zodiac for the snorkelling.
Kit hire will be possible but all divers/snorkellers need to be experienced.

Costs are not confirmed yet but are likely to be about £700 per person including flights. (If we can do it cheaper we will and I will publish all cost breakdown for transparency)

The aim will be to get really close to orca in the water.
People seriously interested should email me asap (Max number 14) first come first served!

A few short clips from last weekend are on:

YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.

my email: bburville@hotmail.com

Safe diving,
Ben.

[Lou]

Originally Posted by Seal diver

The aim will be to get really close to orca in the water.
.

Much as I would love to get close to Orca underwater, does this not contravene the general rules, used worldwide, for the watching of marine mammals?

[Seal diver]

It is important not to disturb any marine life, especially marine mammals, however, with the right approach I think that it is perfectly acceptable to be in the water in the vacinity of these creatures.

If they are inquisitive they will come and have a look at you!

There is, of course, the issue of safety and it must be stressed that encounters with any wild animal can be potentially dangerous. (a number of you will have seen the video clip of a female snorkeller taken to 20m by a pilot whale before being released or will have heard of a researcher snorkelling in the Antarctic whilst working for the British Antarctic Survey and being sadly drowned by a leopard seal etc.)

You can argue both ways, most advocates of the no interaction have never been underwater with marine mammals and experienced the joy of such interactions. You can argue that any interaction may "habituate human contact" and this may in fact be dangerous for the mammals. You can also argue that the mammals sometimes appear to enjoy the interaction.

Whichever way you lean, the key is respect for nature.

Safe diving,
Ben.

YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.

[Lou]

I think that the key thing for me is that there is a clear and accepted set of guidelines to follow. I one breaks those guidelines in one way (by using scuba, for example) then how can one complain if someone else breaks them another way - commercial boats getting too close for example.

[John Gulliver]

I agree with you in principle, Lou, but, actually, I don't think there are any generally agreed rules for orca watching in Tysfjord, at least I haven't found any on the Internet. SCUBA is not prohibited and the boats do go quite close to the orcas, or, rather, the orcas come very close to the boats. Everybody, including the marine biologists that have been studying them for years, seems to agree that the orcas are so preoccupied with catching herring that they couldn't care less about the boats or divers and snorkellers being there.
I'd love to see this fascinating spectacle but the cost is prohibitive as far as I'm concerned. You can get a whole week on a good Red Sea liveaboard for what you pay for a weekend's orca watching in Tysfjord.
More info' here: Orca Tysfjord - Lofoten. Killer Whale Safari