Fremantle Whale experience is currently observing the southern Humpback Whale migration as hundreds of whales travel past Fremantle everyday. Today was a wonderful collection of interactions with a persistent bachelor male, playful calves and reactive adults who responded likely shark activity in the area. The morning pod was a mum and her calf being followed by a very hopeful and persistent bachelor male who was doing his best to impress. It was amusing to watch as the mother was unsure of him and doing her best to keep a reactionary distance as her calf picked up on mums defensive behaviour. The little one was adorable as he tried to bullfrog, trumpet and tail slap towards the bachelor male to help mum out and send a clear message to the male. Eventually they did start to relax together but the mother whale was still keeping a close eye on the bachelor as she used our vessel as a block to keep him behind her as best she could.
The midday tour observed a gathering of mum and calf pods who seemed to have reacted to one another with some breaching from one of the calves and defensive tail lobs from the male escort. He moved the mum and calf away from the others and managed to guide them towards and area a little less busy with Humpback pods so they could settle in for a rest. The local Rottnest Bottlenose Dolphins were in the area and approached us excitedly as the whole family of over thirty individuals made their way towards the bow. One of them was carrying a bit of squid and it was no wonder they were in such a happy mood as the hunting today must have been successful.
Breaching and head lunging from two other pods indicated there may have been some shark activity in the area. Language of the Whales at the surface that is reactive and aggressive usually indicates something is bothering the whales and we observed this behaviour again during the afternoon tour. Firstly we had a mum and her calf resting calmly, she was an enormous adult who would have certainly welcomed many calves over her lifetime with her mature size indicating older age. Nearby was a young female and her calf who launched to life with powerful head lunging that echoed out through the area before she settled back into rest mode. The reactive and powerful surface language observed over the last two tours indicated a shark was likely lurking and bothering these pods but with all that dominant and powerful sound being created we are confident these protective mother whales will keep those predators well clear of their babies.
