Whales and water spouts on a special day in Augusta as both incredible sights created special memories. Our morning was beautiful blue skies and sunshine as tail lobbing first indicated some activity in the area and we smiled to see a yearling surface. A little bit cautious which is understandable for such a young whale, this yearling would tail lob every now and again as he gets used to making decisions of his own for the first time since separating from mum. Later on in the morning we met up with another young whale who had found the local Bottlenose Dolphins and was having a marvellous time. Dolphins and this juvenile Humpback twisted and turned playfully as another pod began to move in on the activity. Breaching just to our starboard began as one of the cheeky Humpbacks began to communicate with the others and all pods began to converge together as repeated breaching and tail lobs continued. All five whales then proceeded to chase after each other underneath and around us and the playful energy of the dolphins appeared to have rubbed off on the Humpbacks. They continued to socialise together as one individual breached again just off our bow and left much white water behind as the fun continued.
The afternoon was peaceful and clouds gently surrounded the sighting grounds as sunshine peaked through and blows were sighted just ahead. Five seperate pods were on the move and as they all began to converge towards the same area we could feel the energy increase. A huge double breach from an escort pod kickstarted the Language of the Whales as each pod continued to communicate back and forth with a breach to our right, tail lob to the left and pec slapping further behind us. It was exciting and kept us on our toes as the continued surface activity flowed amongst the pods and as the Albatross and Crested Terns began to successfully feed on schools of baitfish we looked skywards. A beautiful and enormous water spout was forming and we turned around to have a better look at this rare and unusual phenomenon. Usually not sighted this far south, these water spouts generally form over warm water. This water spout stretched all the way into the southern ocean and created a truly dramatic and beautiful scene. A rather special Saturday with whales and water spouts on the Humpback Highway.
