Megaptera novaeangliae everywhere…. and one Eubalaena australis were sighted today in Flinders Bay. English version, Humpback Whales everywhere and one Southern Right Whale were sighted today in Flinders Bay! A truly incredible day from the moment we left the Augusta Boat Harbour as we were required to stop in the harbour mouth due to a young Humpback Whale moving past and then deciding to stop and investigate us. The entire morning was spent with Humpback Whales surrounding our vessel in high intensity competition pods, a curious juvenile who swam directly towards our vessel before tail lobbing and covering everyone on the bow in Southern Ocean sea water right off the peduncle of a Humpback Whale.
Our afternoon experience started exactly the same with another stop in the harbour mouth to wait for the Humpback Whale traffic to pass by and further competition pods and curious juveniles filled our afternoon. The most incredible interaction also unfolded today as we watched a competition pod swim directly at us and after having a good look they moved slowly towards an area only a few meters ahead of us. The males diverted and suddenly the Southern Right Whale we had sighted a few days ago resurfaced amongst the male Humpbacks!
A very rare sighting to see both species interacting together and we watched excitedly as the males circled around the young Southern Right Whale a few times before continuing after the female Humpback. The Southern Right seemed to take it all in her stride and did not seem concerned by the attention she received from the male Humpbacks. We lost count of how many whales were in Flinders Bay today as hundreds of whale exhalations could be seen throughout the day. Truly one of the best places in the world to go whale watching and sight both Humpback Whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) and Southern Right Whales (Eubalaena australis).
