Fremantle long weekend whales were simply spectacular today as on both our morning and afternoon departures the ocean was alive with the Language of the Whales. There has been a steady surge of southbound whales over the last few days as hundreds of whales migrate past Fremantle. It is a very exciting time of the migration as we observe not only mums and calves but also many bachelor males still on the lookout for the girls. The energy is high amongst the boys and competitive as usual with each male doing their best to try and persuade the female they are the one to escort them south back to Antarctica. Today we had wonderful interactions with both bachelor boys and mothers with excitable calves who were all very busy with dozens of pods moving through the sightings grounds.
It is generally the case when you have many whales all converging towards each other that is when you are most likely to observe surface activity. The Language of the Whales often involves spectacular behaviours such as breaching, pec slapping, tail lobbing and fluke slapping which we were spoilt to observe on many occasions today. The calves didn’t allow the adults to have all the fun as they joined in on the action and enjoyed the perfect opportunity to practice all they have been learning over the last few months. It is remarkable to think that between 3 to 4 thousand calves will have been born this season and every new addition is a precious member of this ever growing population. The next few weeks are set to be the busiest for the southbound whales as the peak of the migration is set to descend upon Perth and we couldn’t be more excited!