Bremer Canyon
50km off shore from Bremer Bay is an amazing deepwater ecosystem. It is thought that hydrocarbons leaking from the earth's crust are the start of a food chain
that attracts
orca, sharks, sea birds, blue fin tuna, oceanic sun fish and many other species. Pods of orca are particularly common during the summer month of February.
David Riggs ( http://www.riggsaustralia.com/) has been observing the area since 2005. In part this lead to the documentary "Search for the Ocean Super Predator" which was produced by Michael Lynch, Leighton De Barros & David Riggs and released in 2013. Dave then used crowd funding to organize a charter boat with scientists and photographers for the 2014 season. Growing public interest supported the introduction in February 2015 of public tours to visit the Bremer Canyon. Passengers depart from Bremer Bay each day aboard Naturalist Charters "Cetacean Explorer". All photos copyright 2015 Keith Lightbody |
Orcas (Orcinus orca) are a toothed whale and apex predator. They are the largest of the 35 species of oceanic dolphins. |
indian yellow-nosed albatross |
albatross with scraps |
one orca "split finger" has a split fin |
split finger often approaches boats |
crested tern landing (Bremer Wharf) |
sooty oystercatcher eating a crab (Bremer Wharf) |
vertical male fin |
"paintball" |
black-browed albatross ski landing |
crested tern with fish (Bremer Wharf) |
tern colony has good food supply (Bremer Wharf) |
drone used for recording video |
crew, scientists and film makers |
|
juvenile shy albatross |
orca surfacing near the boat |
birds flock to the site of an orca kill |
ship Blue Moon passing directly above Bremer Canyon |
|
fishing boats (Bremer Harbour) |
orca going inverted under boat |
"sonic" orca crashing through a wave |
different nicks in fins allow identification |
orca with bones of beaked whale |
fins and birds |
unique marks allow identification |
orca pod |
|
black-browed albatross |
|
mermaid sculpture (Bremer Bay Resort) |
light-mantled sooty albatross |
flesh-footed shearwater |
marine scientist briefing - leila |
orca |
pod of pilot whales |
juvenile black-browed |
wandering albatross |
indian yellow-nosed |
hooded plover (Bremer Estuary) |
rock parrot (Main Beach) |
avocets (Bremer Estuary) |
weevil (Bremer Bay) |
black-browed albatross |
orca fin |
|
wilson's storm-petrel |
orca attacking beaked whale |
lightning over bremer bay |
orcas approaching the boat |
boat safety briefing - rhett |
black-browed (left) & indian yellow-nosed |
flesh-footed shearwater |
Photos not to be reproduced without my permission and acknowledgement. (EXIF) data has been retained in the above photos to identify the camera, lens and settings used. |
My email:
|
Statistics on usage of this site are provided by Google Analytics and Chillitech web stats