Humpback Whale ship strike surviver was sighted today along with a stunning white fluke whale, yesterdays little white calf and incredible Humpback and Dolphin interactions. It was a chilly day in Augusta as a snug cloud cover kept us company throughout the day and amongst the bay were many Humpback Whales. Our morning began with escort and bachelor pods moving out towards the reef line as they covered ground efficiently. The tour progressed with further pods gathering and we had a sudden change of pace as Common Dolphins surged towards the bow and we were thrilled to see them as they are usually sighted a little further offshore. The local Bottlenose Dolphins had also joined in on the fun as they continued bow riding with Humpback Whales reacting as further whales moved in on the area. Soon we had five big Humpback Whales and all the dolphins socialising together with a large adult Humpback breaching and pec slapping only a short distance away! It was a very busy way to complete an incredible morning with the Humpback Whales and Dolphins.
The afternoon was a rather remarkable tour as our first sighting was of a stunning Humpback Whale who had a white fluke. A big tail lob was observed as he was making his way towards a female and trying to deter a challenger who was also approaching at the same time. The challenger was also a special whale as old scarring on the fluke indicated he was an Orca attack survivor with a rounded fluke where the Orca teeth had caused damage. The most remarkable whale in this pod though was the female who was pec slapping away to call in the boys and attract their attention. Observing a large wound on her side we could also see the faint oil slick being left behind and scent of blubber on the waters surface. She had survived a very damaging vessel strike with the wound being no more then one to two weeks old and very large. It was incredible to see her acting normally and seeming to be in good spirits as the boys arrived and competed for her attention. Approaching our vessel we stood by for an opportunity to document these three incredible whales as Arry did a great job of capturing the GoPro footage you will see in the images below.
The impact of the vessels hull had caused a massive indentation and wound which was healing and thankfully the rest of her body looked strong with no further injury. Perhaps she had been resting at the surface or just mistimed her surfacing as a vessel moved past, as she was only a young whale we can see these individuals sometimes makings errors when moving around vessel traffic. Although the injury is severe we could already see the healing process beginning as the power of blubber was discarding the dead skin and regenerating new protective blubber to the area. It will take much time but as the healing process continues the area will fill out a little and the body contour will return, but there will always be a remaining indentation to indicate this Humpback is a vessel strike survivor. The blubber is not only brilliant at regeneration and healing, but it also seems to prevent infection extremely well which is vital for the healing process. Wounds that would usually cause terrestrial animals to succumb to their injuries do not appear to cause the same problems for the incredible blubber healing process our marine mammals have, it is very much a super power!
Wishing them well we were able to re-sight one of our mum and calf pods from yesterday as the tiny white bellied baby popped up alongside mum. A closer look at the mother whale today also taught us she was an Orca attack survivor as a very old scar, probably from when she was a youngster, indicated that she had survived an interaction with the Orca along our coastline. Perhaps that is one of the reasons why she has chosen to raise her calf further south, the little one seems to be doing well and was moving strongly with mum today. Our final pod for our very unique and busy afternoon was a competition pod as the boys charged after each other with the local Bottlenose Dolphins once again joining in on the fun. The Humpback Whales were dominant as they competed with the cheeky dolphins just enjoying some bow riding off their rostrum and the high energy of the competition pod. It was a very unique and enjoyable day out with our whales with much to observe, learn and appreciate as the incredible resilience of the Humpback Whale was on full display today.
