It was a lovely November day as we celebrated Scott’s birthday and met some very relaxed mums and calves along with a surprise bachelor pod of eight males. It was a warm morning but slightly cooler than yesterday as we moved out into the sighting grounds and quickly came across our first pods for the morning. A mother, calf and male escort were hanging out together as they surfaced close to us in an attempt to hide in our sound footprint and away from a nearby pod. The second pod was a mum and calf who were in cruise mode as they shuffled through the resting grounds. She was looking for the perfect spot to settle in for a rest as she swam calmly alongside us with her calf. Eventually after some looking she seemed to settle into a particular area she liked the look of so we took the opportunity to wish her well and have a look around.
Our next pod was a big surprise as eight bachelor males cruised past with two nearby mum and calf pods trying to maintain a low profile. The boys were boisterous with a cheeky tail lob and plenty of noisy exhalations amongst them all at each surfacing. It was a fantastic sight to see them rounding out on each dive and gracefully lifting their flukes. A wonderful opportunity to capture some photo id images of each male to add to our catalogue and hopefully we will have the opportunity of seeing some matches especially amongst some of the older males in the pod. A mother and her calf launched into head lunging just up ahead in a defensive response to the approaching males as all of the nearby mums and calves ensured they were keeping quiet to prevent the start of a competition pod which can be exhausting for the calves. A beautiful morning with the whales and also great to see our original pods resting quietly on our return back towards the Fremantle Fishing Boat Harbour as they kept well clear of the bachelor pod.
