Humpback Whale language lessons were in fine form today as the mother whales joined in to encourage the calves to practice the Language of the Whales. A cool breeze ruffled the waters surface and made for a refreshing journey out to the sighting grounds as pods of mothers and calves could be observed as far as the eye could see. Our first pods were resting quietly as they made the most of some quiet time as they kept a low profile from the more energetic pods converging and communicating not far away from them. The little ones were very excited as they launched into breaching, pec slapping and tail lobbing with very good form observed.
One of the female calves was practicing some pec slapping alongside mum and did so very well even as the breeze buffeted her little pectorals about. Breaching followed and mum joined in as well making for some spectacular viewing to see the two working together. Moving further into the resting grounds we could observe a commotion ahead of us as one mother whale launched into very dominant and reactionary body and head lunges. The reaction indicated possible predation in the area as it appeared a pesky shark could have startled the resting pod. Two more mothers and calves approached the scene and we could hear trumpeting from the mother whale who had just been very surface active. Humpback Whale language lessons are not only based around social interactions but also lessons taught on how to defend themselves from predation such as sharks which can be present in resting grounds.
