Spotting whale pods in the waters off Fremantle was a lot of fun today as there was much socialising, play and a little competitive mix amongst the pods today. Our morning was firstly spent with a mother, her cheeky calf and protective male escort. The little family pod seemed to have been travelling together for a while as they were all very comfortable with each others company and the mother had certainly accepted the male as her protector. Approaching us for a few curious looks, the little one also enjoyed a good feed of milk in-between the search for a suitable resting spot. A little further away we observed a pod of three forming as a bachelor male challenged a female Humpback and her male escort as the chase began across the sighting grounds. It took a while but eventually the original male escort did win as the challenger peeled away and began to look for other opportunities in the resting grounds.
Our midday tour was all about the adults as bachelor males converged with over seven individuals socialising together along with the Rottnest Island Bottlenose Dolphin pod. The dolphins number just over thirty individuals and are always so much fun to spend time with and the Humpback Whales certainly through the same as well! Twisting and rolling after each other caused the flukes and pectoral fins to break the waters surface as they tried to keep up with the dolphins. Two of the males were very curious towards us as they came over for a close inspection and spent some time right alongside us having a good look. The other males then became boisterous as they established dominance with tail lobs and it was incredible to watch the power as they launched the lower half of their body skywards. A few meaningful tail slaps towards the end of the interaction appeared to settle the boys as they began to unwind and relax after a busy afternoon of socialising.
