Competing Humpback Whales are incredible to witness as the high octane energy and passion for competing can be seen amongst the males. Today we were surprised and thrilled to witness competition pods on both tours which is always a lovely surprise later in the southern migration! It was a beautiful day and as we departed the Fremantle Fishing Boat Harbour we observed a mum and calf resting quietly. It was a good idea to be tucked away from the main sighting grounds as this morning a huge number of adults had arrived and the majority were bachelor males, the energy was high! Two seperate competition pods had formed with a scattering of curious onlooker pods nearby as the boys ruffled the waters surface with all their pushing and chasing. Pivoting and rolling after each other they were sending white water flying as the females moved towards our vessel as a distraction in an attempt to slow the boys down.
It took a long time but eventually both females had the victorious escort male now travelling with them as the other competitors dispersed. One last pod began to breach in an attempt to draw in these bachelor males and it was a fantastic way to complete a spectacular morning of whale watching. The midday tour began peacefully as we arrived to a gathering of mothers and calves enjoying a very relaxing time now that the bachelor boys had dispersed. Scanning ahead it was clear they hadn’t moved out of the area very far though as a commotion captured out attention and on closer inspection we could see close on twenty adult whales spread over five pods with two pods very competitive. Pec slapping was used to attract attention towards themselves from one whale while the comp pod of 12+ individuals began to move out of the area. A pod of seven boys then merged together for a social and relaxed travelling bachelor pod.
