# Maersk Developer - Tunas, Orcas



## jpark76

Went fishing yesterday on the Instigator. Traveled to the Maersk Developer oil platform, 110 miles south/southwest of Destin. Caught some nice yellowfin and blackfin tuna. The highlight of the trip was something that I have never seen in almost 25 years of fishing the northern Gulf of Mexico. A pod of around 5 orcas that paid us a visit for about 10 minutes. They swam within feet of the boat. Thats the first time I have seen orcas in the wild. Great time was had with good people.


----------



## jpark76

More photos


----------



## jpark76

a few more


----------



## Crazy Old Phil

Nice report and fantastic pics!


----------



## 192

Cool!!!


----------



## cody&ryand

nice tuna and awesome pics


----------



## sniperpeeps

So awesome, nice work guys!


----------



## J0nesi

WOW thats crazy to see orcas. never would have thought....


----------



## panhandleslim

Great report and fantastic photos. 

Orcas go everywhere. I've seen them off the coast of Africa but never in the Gulf. The photos of the flying fish are the ones I really like. Reminds me of a photo that I saw recently of two YFT in the air at once and one has a flying fish, whose fins are still extended, caught by the tail. 

What camera were you using?


----------



## Captain Woody Woods

Awesome!! Always wanted to see gulf orcas


----------



## Tom Hilton

Cool!


----------



## fairpoint

Thanks for sharing....that's the second siting of orcas in the gulf that I know about ...I think some were seen last year.....


----------



## Scruggspc

Notice the bullet holes from commercial fisherman! Not cool.


----------



## samoajoe

Wow!


----------



## SH27GameFish

nice fish, awesome pictures and that's one pretty boat! I've told my wife you never know what you will see out there!


----------



## Kim

Great post and pics!


----------



## MillerTime

those are some awesome photos...what kind of setup are you using?



Scruggspc said:


> Notice the bullet holes from commercial fisherman! Not cool.


Are you referring to the last picture or something else?


----------



## Kobia

those are blow holes nimrod...


----------



## Realtor

Remarkable. Great pictures!


----------



## Scruggspc

Kobia said:


> those are blow holes nimrod...


Looks like a blow hole.....?


----------



## scott44

I don't know much about a killer whale but that one has a bullet hole in it.


----------



## jpark76

Thanks for the compliments on the photos. We had a really good trip and seeing the pod of whales was a crazy bonus. 

I use Canon cameras, that setup was a Canon 1DX with a 300mm f4 lens. I am a professional photographer by trade and am trying to get more into boating and fishing photography. 

As for the 'bullet hole' issue. I saw that and thought the same thing. I have reported the sighting to various researchers and officials and so far the only thing anyone has said is that it is 'probably' from a cookie cutter shark. I personally don't think it looks like that type of wound but maybe I will hear back from someone confirming.

Thanks again for the compliments and if you want to check out more of my work, not much fishing stuff yet, go to www.jasonparkhurst.com


----------



## hjorgan

Great pics, best ff pics I've ever seen.


----------



## J0nesi

Who the hell would shoot killer whales?!?!? Why would you?!? If its over fishing may you never catch another fish in your life!


----------



## cobe killer

those are some awesome pics.


----------



## bcahn

Epic pics and a herd of Tuna!


----------



## J0nesi

talkin with a freind of mine about these orcas. wouldn't these guys be the top predators in the gulf? what are they eating? How long would they stay in the gulf?


----------



## FenderBender

Awesome report! I'm sure that was a sight to see, y'all are very lucky to have run across the whales. I'm sure they eat whatever they want! I remember a video someone posted a couple of years ago of orcas in the gulf with platforms in the background but haven't heard anything since. Obviously a pretty rare occurrence in our parts.





J0nesi said:


> Who the hell would shoot killer whales?!?!? Why would you?!? If its over fishing may you never catch another fish in your life!



My guess is they take fish from the longliners.
*Confrontations with Fishermen*



In some areas, killer whales feed in connection with fishing operations, “stealing” fish from the fishermen. They eat fish from commercial longlines in New Zealand, Alaska, and Brazil. In Brazil, observers reported that more than 50% of the daily swordfish catch may be eaten by killer whales, and that occasionally the whales eat the entire catch.




Some fishermen blame the destruction of millions of dollars of equipment and fish loss on killer whales, and on rare occasions some have taken to shooting killer whales. Recently, researchers have attempted to develop non-lethal killer whale deterrents, including acoustic harassment devices, electric currents, sparker devices (emits a flash of light to startle whales), rubber bullets, bubble screens, chemicals such as lithium chloride ether (to induce nausea) and reducing the sounds caused by the fishing operations. None of these deterrents have been very effective.




Fishermen shooting killer whales is believed to be one of the contributing factors to the unusually high mortality experienced by one pod off Prince William Sound–whales known for their habit of taking black cod off long-lines.


----------



## bigrick

Rig Pics ....


----------



## bigrick




----------



## bquared

Nice! I bet that was a surprise meeting the "wolf pack" of the seas!!!


----------



## panhandleslim

Everything takes fish off longliners. Don't know how many radio calls we got from commercial guys in Brazil wanting us to come out and try to catch Blue Marlin that were taking Mahi off the light weight longlines and shredding the gear. 

The Blue Marlin, down there, treat a longline like a sushi bar. Just jerking stuff off one hook and moving on to the next. The lines are basically unmarked and so long that we used to have to back into em, have two mates grab the line, cut it, back through it while the mates walked the line to the bow and tie them back together and start fishing again.

Whale, sharks, marlin. I mean a hooked live fish is just an invitation.


----------



## MSViking

Man those are awesome pictures! Best way to top off a great tuna trip, see a pod of Killer whales!!!

Great work all around!


----------



## fishsticker

Thanks for the report and great pics as others have stated. Glad you guys got some nice tuna as we'll. A trip to remember for sure.


----------



## WhyMe

Great report. Fine pix.
WhyMe 
Mako My Dayo


----------



## KBGAub

Wow!!

Great photography!


----------



## Mike Moore

As others have said. Nice catch..... nice photo's!


----------



## Deeplines

Just to repeat what everyone else said. 

Job well Done!!


----------



## Ozeanjager

Just like dolphin, those guys were probably waiting for short tuna throw backs.


----------



## fishmagician

Great opportunity for viewing the Orcas, those yellowfin will make some great meals. The photographer did a great job to boot!!


----------



## Sharknado

Killer,!!!! Will be hard to top that trip. Looks like fun. Good job


----------



## augiek

Seen orcas over in this side of the gulf as well (Texas). Very cool photos


----------



## Wicked rods

Nice fish guys and the pictures priceless in this area. Great job seas looked rather nice too.


----------



## Redcross33

Those are some awesome pics!!!!


----------

