How do whales navigate around ships? Today we had a fantastic example how a Humpback Whale safely navigates around vessel traffic and it is all to do with sound. Today we met a beautiful yearling who was exploring the waters just off Fremantle including the shipping lane. Watching this youngster navigate this area was very interesting as the young whale deliberately chose to spend most of their time swimming right in the middle of the shipping lane in the deeper water. After a while a large ship was on its way towards the area and the yearling manoeuvred safely out of the vessels way before returning back to the same swim pattern as before. Large vessels like these ones are easier to navigate around for our whales, the loud sound they create along with their slow and predictable movements enables these whales to safely navigate around them using sound as their reference of the proximity of these large ships.
It is a great example as to why we must be gentle when travelling with whales to ensure our sound profile is as predictable as can be for them. Our Humpback Whale swimming past Carnac Island was also an iconic moment as all the way back in 1836 the island was operating as a whaling station, targeting the annual Humpback Whale migration in particular. Thankfully it only operated for less than a few years before closing down and the Humpback Whale population of Western Australia as been protected since the earliest sixties. Seeing this yearling, one of last years babies all grown up and recently separated from mu, swimming past Carnac Island was a lovely moment to see just how far this population has come in just of sixty years from near extinction back to near pre-whaling estimates.
The local Bottlenose Dolphins came over to say hello and it was great to see them all including one member of the pod in particular. Katie did a great job in capturing a detailed image of the scars these dolphin carried, the result of a shark attack! Nearly up to eighty percent of the coastal dolphin population in Australia are shark attack survivors and carry the scars to prove these close encounters. Sharks are the top predator for dolphins and this particular dolphin was very fortunate to have survived this interaction and the wound has healed very nicely considering the size of the shark and the impact it left behind.
