Orca calf DC has whale of a time in canyon

Meet DC, the first orca calf spotted at the Bremer Bay Canyon in more than a year.

Curtin University researcher Rebecca Wellard spotted the calf while conducting research surveys in the Bremer Sub-Basin with Cetacean Research WA and Killer Whales Australia.

The calf has been named DC in honour of WA chief wildlife officer Doug Coughran who died last week. Mr Coughran was a pioneer in whale rescue techniques in Australia. DC is the offspring of Kali, who has been catalogued by Project ORCA since 2016. The deep sea canyon, a biological hotspot, is 70km off the coast of Bremer Bay, 180km east of Albany.

Picture: Rebecca Wellard/Project Orca