Fremantle whale watching was alive with activity today as our Humpback Whales enjoyed the beautiful conditions and calves were at play. Our first encounter was with a mother, calf and male escort all travelling together and the calf appeared to be hassling mum for more milk by rolling in front of her and attempting to position on top of her blowhole… calves can be very cheeky! Distant breaching caused the young calf to respond with a breach of her own as they moved towards a resting ground amongst the tankers. Leaving them to continue their morning it wasn’t long before we were surrounded by Humpback Whales as one pod moved left and the other moved right while at the same time the calves were communicating with surface activity towards each other.
Recognising the cow and calf from yesterday (Mr. Breach) we watched with great interest as the females escort performed two peduncle slaps and then was instantly followed by Mr. Breach who continued to peduncle slap for the next twenty minutes! He was communicating to a second mother and calf pod who had joined up with us and were swimming right alongside our vessel. Moving in incredibly close the female was teaching her calf how to use our sound footprint as a great disguise when approaching another pod of whales. The calf seemed to enjoy the opportunity to get to know us and came closer and closer as we moved together as one. A very special day out on the water enjoying Fremantle whale watching with perfect conditions and spectacular Humpback Whales.
