Perth Whale Watching on a stunningly beautiful morning with the Humpback Whales off Fremantle as we observed incredible surface language. It was a warm breeze escorting us to the sighting grounds and as we arrived the surface activity had begun as pec slapping was sighted just ahead. Arriving to join this pod we could see two others also begin to tail lob and fluke slap in line with the young adult who was continuing to pec slap loudly. The mother whale in front of us tail lobbed powerfully and indicated that she didn’t want to socialise with the other whales close to her. The second mother and calf ahead was a very different story as the mother whale pec slapped while her calf fluke slapped and called out to all the other whales in the resting grounds. The female rounded out and dived deeply so we set our cameras and anticipated for a breach as everything fell still around us.
She launched and flew skywards as her enormous frame belied the fact that she was gracefully lifting 35+ thousand kilograms into the atmosphere. A spectacular breach which was followed up with more pec slapping as she taught her calf how to call out to other pods when wanting to socialise. Eventually mother and calf settled into resting mode as we tiptoed away to let them catch their breath and for her calf to have a feed of milk. A further pod of two young adults decided it was their time to call out to the others and began to pec slap repeatedly. Approaching us curiously one of the Humpback Whales decided to show off only a few meters away as the enormous one thousand kilogram pectoral fin came crashing down and the thud was heard clearly on such a beautifully calm morning. A spectacular day to enjoy some Perth Whale Watching with so many curious and relaxed pods enjoying their time in the resting grounds.
