Australian tour group sees 'spectacular' encounter with large pod of pilot whales

BREMER CANYON, Australia, March 23 (UPI) -- A pair of tour guides at Australia's Bremer Canyon Expeditions were able to capture footage of a large group of long-finned pilot whales during a tour.

Kirsty Mary Alexander shared the video captured by fellow tour guide Billy Thom to Facebook, as she recounted the tale of an eventful tour that ended with the whale encounter.

"Today the Bremer Canyon made us work hard. In the end the rewards were spectacular, but we couldn't know that as we tracked up and down the zone during those first two hours," Alexander wrote.

She mentioned feeling pressure to deliver interesting sights as their boat contained many groups celebrating anniversaries and birthdays, while others returned to reconcile past uneventful trips.

Alexander considered the trip successful after traveling alongside a pod of orcas for a while, but was more than pleased to have the trip end by encountering the massive group of pilot whales.

"As we motored along, there was one more amazing encounter in store to top off an amazing day," she wrote. "A pod of long finned pilot whales decided to pay us a visit, a huge, beautiful flotilla 100 strong, cutting across our bow 100m in front."

The pod, featuring both males, females and even whale calves, swam alongside the tour for some time as they wove around both the front and back of the boat.

"A spectacular finale to an amazing day on the water," Alexander wrote.