Humpback winter feeding off Fremantle in a first ever observation for our team as this young juvenile feasted on sardines for breakfast. It was set to be a very special day starting with our first sighting as a white bellied Humpback Whale surfaced awkwardly and something appeared different with this whales movements. Approaching the area we noticed dozens of Gannets with most resting but a few still actively diving on the plentiful schools of sardines that were scattered everywhere today and showing up regularly on our sounder. The following surfacing’s from this juvenile Humpback Whale were fascinating as we watched him working in a circular pattern before surfacing with throat pleats expanded and a mouthful of sardines gathered, we were witnessing feeding! It was such a thrill to see and a very rare behaviour to witness in the waters off Perth.
This is a fantastic example of the wonderful opportunity we have with our brand new Winter Whale Watch tours off Perth to witness what the migration patterns and behaviours are amongst the visiting whales in this area that has not been well studied during the winter months previously. Is the Humpback Whale feeding we witnessed today a rarity or do many juveniles gather in these waters during this time of the year to feed opportunistically, similar to the feeding that occurs in the waters off Eden on the east coast of Australia. Time will tell but we were grateful for the opportunity to observe a young Humpback Whale actively feeding today and will be keeping a very close eye on this potential activity in the area during the weeks ahead.
Once the feeding had been completed our youngster began to head off to explore the area and at that time we observed a further two juveniles tarting up a conversation with spectacular breaching and head lunging. It was magnificent to watch them launch completely airborne and he barrel role breaching was spectacular! The young male decided he was going to breach straight towards us with one epic barrel role breach landing just off our port side before he showed off his head lunges across the bow. Our special day was completed with some time spent with our local Bottlenose Dolphins as they escorted us back home to the Fremantle Fishing Boat Harbour and we are confident they also had enjoyed a feast of sardines earlier on in the morning.
