The final weeks of Augusta Season 2019 are now and we will continue to spend valuable time with our stunning Southern Right Whales along the Augusta coastline and a few Humpback Whales still hanging around to catch up with the rest of the migration. Our morning began with a splash as breaching just ahead caught our attention and upon arrival we met two large adult Humpbacks cruising through the bay. A smaller exhale just up ahead was moving towards us and as we waited for the next resurfacing we all jumped as a long pectoral fin went slap right next to us! These two juveniles had been cheeky and approached from below before surfacing alongside us and beginning some noisy pec slapping. The spectacular display of pec slapping, tail lobs and inverted fluke slapping lasted for over an our as these two lovely Humpbacks enjoyed some social surface time right next to us as we Joined The Pod™ along with three Common Dolphins who enjoyed a bit of bow riding as they also joined with us for some time during the morning.
Usually the final weeks of Augusta Season 2019 means the Humpbacks are sparse as the majority of their population has already moved north. This afternoon though shows that as the population grows so will the continued flow of the migration with five escort pods greeting us shortly after leaving the Augusta Boat Harbour. They were busily racing about and trying not to get too close to each other, two large adults swam right up behind us to use our sound footprint as they sneakily hid from the pod further to our left. Big adult whales and as they exhaled we could hear that powerful 300-600 kilometre per hour blow while they shuffled around at some speed to evade the other escort pods. Wishing them well we then ventured over to the Southern Right Whale nursery grounds and watched as one of the lovely mother and calf pods we are getting to know played in the shallows. Mum had found a nice little divot along the shoreline that allowed for a bit of extra room for the pair. Incredibly close to the beach, but enjoying their special place the young calf enjoyed rolling all over mum and getting stuck up on her back occasionally!
