6 Breaches in 60 Seconds, 60 breaches in one hour… Western Australian Humpbacks smash breaching record today in Flinders Bay! A perfect morning for whale watching as over twenty Humpback Whales surrounded us at the most south western point of Australia, they were ready for an incredible display in an incredible place. The female started the breaching only meters in front of our bow as males charged towards her at full speed while using our vessel as a sneaky approach, swimming right alongside us. The fast approach of other males encouraged the female who continued to breach every minute or so to attract them towards her, it certainly worked as they responded with peduncle slaps and tail slaps to assert their dominance. One of the larger males travelling with her decided he needed to send a strong message to these other males and launched himself, all 45 tonnes, into the air and clear of the surface below in a full bodied barrel roll breach!
We all watched on in complete awe as they moved towards us, breaching as they went and there was one moment today when the female and males all breached one after the other and we had a new record of 6 breaches in under 60 seconds, absolutely phenomenal! More breaching followed along with impress head lunges and even a few jaw claps where the males will slam their upper and lower jaw together at the surface creating a loud noise and a quick glimpse of the beautiful baleen plates inside their mouths. Yet another competition pod behind us also approached and circled around our vessel, slowing to have a good look at everyone onboard and lifting their flukes high so we could have a perfect look at their fingerprint, the underside of their flukes.
Our afternoon journey was a complete opposite of the energy from this morning and remarkably calm. We sighted and interacted with ten different pods as they cruised through the bay and made curious approaches towards our vessel. They were in a relaxed frame of mind and seemed to enjoy investigating us before continuing with their afternoon siesta. A perfectly peaceful afternoon to spend with these magnificent whales and a truly special day we will always treasure, from incredible arial accomplishments to the gentle courtship of two whales on our afternoon experience. The Language of the Whales™ was fluently spoken today at its most energetic and relaxed by not only the whales but also all of our wonderful guests onboard who learnt another language today!
