Are Humpback Whales social? Yes, they most certainly are! Humpback Whales are incredibly social creatures who love to interact with other Humpbacks and even other species such as Dolphins, Sea Lions and even humans. Today we had an interesting morning as we observed multiple pods converge as they waited for a ship to move past. A mother and calf rested quietly as a few adult meandered through the area. One pod in particular had two beautiful individuals as a jet black fluke was painted with the most intricate white detailing creating an appearance of a water colour painting. Every fluke is a fingerprint to that individual and what we use to identify them and add each fluke to our ever-growing catalogue in hopes of future re-sightings of these individuals.
A rumbling from a pod of three Humpback Whales indicated some competitive energy and behaviour. A female seemed to have gathered the attention of two curious males with one keeping his spot as primary male escort. He may have been travelling with this female for a long time or only a few minutes but either way he now had company. A challenger had arrived and was very interested in the lovely female Humpback leading the way through the resting grounds. Body blocking, bubble veils and chasing continued as the boys tried to out manoeuvre each other. The female seemed more than content to have two “body guards” watching over her as she continued on with her southbound migration while the males battled it out for her attention.
