It was high fives all round today as we sighted a brand new baby Southern Right and a brand new baby Humpback in Augusta both on the same tour! The odds are incredible and we were so excited to see a Humpback calf in Flinders Bay again after our very special Leeuwi from season 2016. The little one was being pushed towards us by mum who had an overly friendly male Humpback following her around the bay and she may have been looking for a bit of extra support from us to encourage the male to make his advances elsewhere.
A new Southern Right Whale calf who would have only been 24-48 hours old was quietly logging with mums in the sheltered protection of Flinders Bay. The waves crashing onto the beach creates an environment that is very noisy, perfect for mother and calf who are avoiding predators such as sharks and this way they can blend in with the shoreline. A young female Humpback put on a big display of pectoral fin slapping just meters from our bow as she attracted the attention of a few Humpbacks within the bay who raced to meet her.
The Humpback calf had an almost identical dorsal fin to mum which always amazes us to see and although looking a little bit thin it was great news to see mum still very large and she will be able to provide him with plenty of rich 48% fat milk to hopefully put some good blubber on this gorgeous calf who is in desperate need of a name! Make sure to let us know your name suggestions for this precious new addition to the Western Australian Humpback population and officially the first Humpback calf sighted for 2017!❤
