Humpback Whale Baleen is an incredible part of a Humpback Whale who filter feeds their food and today a young Humpback calf displayed a big baleen smile for all of us to see. It was a glassy morning with silky smooth waters creating the perfect journey out to the sightings grounds as soon after our arrival two mums and calves were observed playing with the local Bottlenose Dolphins. The youngsters and their mums were having so much fun as they chased after the dolphins and danced around us in the morning sunshine. A further two mums and calves were resting nearby and after some fun the two pods separated leaving the boisterous young male calf to amuse himself. It made us smile to hear him deliberately blowing raspberries at the surface as he practised trumpeting before opening his mouth wide and showing off his baby baleen. The baleen plates are made of keratin and grow throughout the life of each Humpback Whale with between 300 to 400 plates on the upper jaw of a Humpback. Once they are older and in the krill filled waters of Antarctica they will consume anywhere from 1 to 3 thousand kilograms of krill per day by sieving krill from mouthfuls of seawater using their precious baleen as the filter.
A very light breeze gently ruffled the waters surface and it was set to be a very busy afternoon for the whales. Firstly we enjoyed the incredible curiosity of a mother and calf who swam straight over to say hello before moving right in on our stern for a closer look. Spending some time with these mums and calves was wonderful but we noticed a commotion on the horizon so decided to wish our mums and bubs a restful afternoon as we moved out to the competition pod. The same adults who had been in the area during our morning tour were still boisterous and competing as they chased after each other in an awesome display of strength and coordination. Nearby mums and calves responded with tail lobs and fluke slapping in defence of the approaching comp pod as the ocean around us was alive with the movement of whales. Over the last few days we have observed between 50 to 100 Humpbacks in the sighting grounds which are fantastic numbers. The next two days will see a severe weather front move through the region but we look forward to getting back out with the whales again on Friday!
