Fremantle whale sighting grounds were busy today with a competition pod that lasted over four hours and playful mums and calves enjoying their day. It was a surprise this morning to see so many adults having arrived in the sighting grounds overnight and now much competitive energy was flowing. A pod of nine were pursuing a female as a second female from a nearby pod also had interest from bachelors. In perfect unison both females were pec slapping at the same time as they called out to the males and tried to get them to approach and compete. Tail lobs, bubble veils, chin slaps and powerful reversals were observed for the next hour of interaction as it felt as though we had gone back in time to the peak of the winter breeding season.
Spectacular to watch and as these competition pods rumbled away we could observe mother and calves nearby maintaining a low profile to ensure they didn’t encourage the approach of any bachelor males and the high energy that comes with that pod. Amazingly, on our arrival on the midday tour to the sighting grounds familiar faces and energy appeared. It was the same competition pod from this morning and we were amazed to see the energy they all still had after four hours of competing! Chin slaps and trumpeting still echoed out through the sighting grounds but it didn’t stop a couple of nearby mums and calves having fun. The two mums and their bubs were practicing their tail lobs and tail slaps dramatically as white water was flying and it was a spectacular sight to see. It was wonderful today to observe high energy still amongst the whales as we move further through the season, after so long without food energy reserves are running low.
