Category: Fauna

Bremer Canyon Killer Whales

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Bremer Canyon Killer Whales

Male Orca Bremer Canyon

El Notcho, Male Killer Whale

I spent a wonderful day last weekend out on the water, south of Bremer Bay, in the area called Bremer Canyon.  This is a hot spot for Killer Whales and it’s still  unknown to many West Australians.  Our tour with Naturaliste Charters started at the Bremer Bay Boat Harbour at 8.30am.  We left the coast with some incredible skies which stayed with us for a few hours.

clouds and the sea

Then the first of the mammals arrived, an escort from a pod of Common Dolphins.  They were along side of us and also a number at the bow just keeping ahead of us.  This is the first time to my knowledge that I’ve seen Common Dolphins, it’s usually Bottlenose that I’ve come across.

Common Dolphin

Common Dolphin

Then it happened, just as we were approaching the area known as Bremer Canyon, we had our first Killer Whale sighting.  

The next couple of hours we were kept busy with many Killer Whales coming and going all around the boat.  A kill or two was made.  The Flesh-footed Shearwater are always ready to pick up any leftovers and the odd squawk could be heard around kill time.  They are usually silent at sea and noisy in their colonies. 

Orca tail

A little bit of breaching and tail slapping was happening.  A couple of times we had one dive under the boat and come up the other side right in front of our very eyes except of course I had my camera in the way and she was just too close and too fast to photograph.  After that I made sure that I put the camera down for a while and just enjoyed watching all of the activity.  

Orca Killer Whales Bremer Canyon Western Australia

It’s possible to identify every individual Killer Whale.  The size and shape of their saddle patch (the grey area behind the dorsal fin) acts like a finger print.  Also the size and shape of their dorsal fins and any scars they may have help with a quick ID.  A male dorsal fin is taller and more triangular than the female. 

Orcas of Bremer Canyon

Orca doing a roll sequence images

My last Killer Whale image on this post is of one ‘Surging’ apparently this is a very economical way for the them to swim.

Orca Killer Whales Bremer Canyon Western Australia

The Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross are the smallest of the Mollymawks and are listed as vunerable by the Dept of Environment.  

Albatross at Bremer Canyon

Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross

Flesh-footed Shearwater

Flesh-footed Shearwater

 

 

 

 

 

San Ignacio to Loreto

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San Ignacio to Loreto

I took an early morning walk into the town square before the ride today.  All was quiet with just a few locals sweeping the streets outside of their shops.

The following excerpt from our tour paperwork explains today.  “Ahead of us this morning is the massive ‘Volcan Las Tres Virgenes’. Which tells us the origin of recent lava flows around us. We descend Devils Grade, seven miles of switchbacks that take us down to the warm waters of the Sea of Cortez. We ride along the shores of beautiful Bahia Conception, whose deep-blue waters, volcanic islands, and isolated beaches are real Baja delights. In the afternoon we reach Loreto, the oldest Spanish settlement along the West Coast. The town offers a picturesque central plaza, shopping, and an array of excellent restaurants.”

We had a rest day upon arriving at Loreto.  Our van driver took 4 of us up the mountain to San Javier Mission.  Founded in 1697 by Jesuit Missionaries, it’s the oldest Spanish settlement on the Baja peninsula and one of the best preserved.  Beats the hell out of me how or more importantly why they would want to create a settlement up in the mountains like they did. It was a challenge getting up there with a paved road, how did they manage without one? 

San Ignacio to Loreto

A local

 

Mission San Ignacio to Loreto

San Ignacio Mission

Prime waterfront realestate

San Ignacio to Loreto

Warming up before their performance

 

Day 20 Guerrero Negro to San Quintin

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Guerrero Negro to San Quintin

What a great cool temperature today for riding, but a little windy.  We were riding at high altitude again so up and down and around mountains etc, then through the Valle de los Cirios with the Cardon Cactus and Cirios Trees.  Most of the day was spent riding through desert like landscape.

Berry growing is a major industry in the Baja.  Strawberry, raspberry, blackberry and blueberry, I’m guessing that the majority gets exported as we didn’t see too many in our travels.  A little here and there in the fruit platters at breakfast.  Watermelon and rockmelon were common place.  Many of the fields were protected by the elements like in the picture at the end of this post.  Tomatoes are grown in abundance also, with San Quintin being one of the world’s largest tomato growing regions in the world.

Curio Tree at Valle de los Cirios

Cirio Tree

Cardon Cactus at Valle de los Cirios

Cardon Cactus

Motorbike riding

Berry growing