Humpback Whale play pod it was this morning as mums and calves mingled while the midday tour was restful with the local Bottlenose Dolphins coming over for arvo greetings! It was a lovely day and amongst the beautiful conditions we observed mums and their calves scattered with some resting while others were keen for some social interactions. It soon turned into play pod time as the mums introduced their calves and allowed the little ones to have some fun with breaching, tail lobs and tai slapping being practiced. These interactions are important to the growth and development of these calves and teaches them good social skills which they will need going forward. The youngsters seem to love the opportunity of showing off their skills to the other calves and it is always sweet to see the little ones mimic each other.
One would do an inverted tail slap and immediately the second youngster would roll over to do the same. It was also great with all this twisting and rolling to confirm that we had one female calf and one male calf, maybe one day in the future they may meet again on the breeding path as adults and we wonder if they will remember their play pod from today. The midday tour was soaking in the beautiful weather as everyone was out and about enjoying their Sunday including the mother and calves. The pods were relaxed this afternoon and enjoying some time for rest with little disturbance from the other pods in the area. The local Bottlenose Dolphins were also moving through the area and it was great to spend some time with them today, they all seemed very pleased to see us as they came over for their afternoon greetings. A mother whale further off launched into a full body breach and her calf quickly followed before they settled quickly and it appeared there may have been some shark predation in the area. Thankfully though the breaching seemed to clear the area as mum and calf moved out of that location and resettled nearby.
