Humpback baleen was on full display today as onboard our morning tour a gorgeous calf played and cleaned his baleen by washing seawater through with an enormous mouth wide open! It is something we observe very rarely and this morning the young calf certainly stole the show with his unique way of playing as he opened his mouth wide to collect a mouthful of seawater before forcing the water back out again with a quick closing jaw. It was incredible to watch and a first for many onboard today to see Humpback Whale baleen inside the mouth of such a young calf. Plenty of growing yet for this babies baleen as we enjoyed the cheesy baleen smiles as the little one had fun alongside mum who was gracefully pec slapping away in an attempt to call in nearby pods. It was a very fun and social morning for the mums and calves enjoying the beautiful day.
Our midday tour was also filled with fun as one young calf enjoyed some time playing with seaweed at the surface while mum was fast asleep below. The youngster twisted and rolled in an attempt to collect the seaweed and during this movement we could see on the fluke of this calf distinctive Orca teeth rake marks. The scarring would have been caused during an interaction with Orca during the journey south and thankfully this mother whale managed to safely keep her calf alive and evade the Orca as both looked well and very happy to be in the safety of the resting grounds. A nearby pod of two mums and calves were having some fun with one of the calves decided to practice some breaching and tail lobs which sent white water flying. The local Bottlenose Dolphins also dropped in for a quick hello which completed yet another incredible day out in the sighting grounds.
