Bremer Bay Blue Whales were sighted today moments after we departed the harbour as a mother and her yearling calf migrated past Bremer Bay. A beautiful morning welcomed us as we departed the Bremer Bay Boat Harbour and just as we were starting to get underway our wonderful crew member Alex spotted the Blue Whales first and made the call as they surfaced on our starboard side. First observation was 0805 at location S 34 27 577 E 119 25 686 as we monitored the surfacing of the mother Pygmy Blue Whale and her yearling calf. A very exciting moment for everyone onboard to meet members of the largest creatures to have lived on our planet as they gracefully travelled with ease past Bremer Bay. It was a relief to see them hugging the coastline as this will ensure they remain well clear of the Orca hunting grounds ensuring the safety of both Blue Whales for their long journey ahead. Our family are very fortunate to have the opportunity of operating the only dedicated Blue Whale tour in Australia as we spend our late April through May in the Perth Canyon which is exactly where this Blue Whale pod was headed today.
Pygmy Blue Whales (Balaenoptera musculus brevicauda) will spend their summer in the Bonney Upwelling as they feast on krill along the southern coastline of Australia. Once the season begins to change they will make their way north towards the Perth Canyon where they will spend a few weeks feasting on krill in their next feeding location. To get from the Bonney Upwelling to the Perth Canyon means a long and dangerous swim at times through known Orca hunting grounds. Blue Whales who hug the coastline will ensure they are less likely to come across the Orca on their long journey as they are far from the continental shelf. The risk if they migrate closer to the shelf is discovery by the Orca as just last year we had a Blue Whale make an incredibly lucky escape while sadly back in Season 2021 we witnessed a successful hunt. It is an area the Blue Whales must be extremely cautious when migrating through and todays pod will be just the start of many more to come as we continue to move further through autumn each and everyday now.
The mother and yearling have been documented as WWWA-BW18 and WWWA-BW19 who will be added to our catalogue. Documenting the Blue Whales in our ever growing catalogue is important to check for any matches and further our understanding of population estimates and migratory paths. Every season in the Perth Canyon we continue to collect data on this population that we are very fortunate to have in Australian waters after nearly being hunted to extinction not all that long ago. Thanks to our Bremer Bay Orca season we are now able to link in with our Perth Canyon studies our first sightings for the season as they begin the flow of the Blue Whale migration west along the southern coastline before pivoting north towards the Perth Canyon. It is only a few short weeks away before we begin Blue Whale Season 2024 and we cannot wait to spend further time with our beautiful blues soon. Arriving in The Patch we were greeted by Queen and her family as they seemed none the wiser of who we had just spent the start of our morning with, not forgetting that this family (miss Noosa to be exact) was responsible for finding the Blue Whale back in Season 2021.
Queen and Cookie were not going to be able to bother this mornings Blue Whales thankfully as the Orca continued to forage in The Patch with focused and disciplined dives. It is a fascinating time of the year as we can see the Orca changing their hunting patterns with squid and Beaked Whales still on the menu but larger prey such as Blue Whales, Humpback Whales and almost a Sperm Whale yesterday now starting to take some of their attention. The apex predators of our ocean know the arrival of their autumn, winter and spring diet is imminent as soon we will observe thousands of baleen whales making heir annual migration along this stretch of coastline. Today thankfully our Bremer Bay Blue Whales were safe and well on their way to the Perth Canyon as the Orca continue to stake out their home grounds in wait for the next opportunity.
