Humpbacks in the storm as beautiful, dramatic weather patterns filtered through Flinders Bay and the whales lifted with the energy that surrounded them. It was the best of both worlds today as a little bit of rain and a little bit of sunshine appeared throughout our tours and the whales were busily on the migration path. We joined with four different pods off the cape this morning and it was exciting to watch as they began to communicate the Language of the Whales with surface activity erupting. The pod just ahead began to breach and tail lob as another pod approached on our port side, accompanied by over twenty Bottlenose Dolphins. The activity continued throughout the morning as we met an extremely energetic young whale in Flinders Bay who began to breach over and over again in search of a companion. He was simply beautiful, launching gracefully just off our bow and putting on a magnificent display. The Dolphins didn’t want the whales to steal the show and were performing some breaching of their own as they launched skywards!
The afternoon sighted a gentle rain shower and the skies began to clear as the distant rumbling of thunder created a perfect scene for the first pod of the afternoon. It wad a courtship pod and the male was enthusiastically trying to flirt with his female companion, although she seemed more interested in us at times. They moved into the shallows of the bay and after swimming towards us to investigate, the male appeared to escort his lovely lady away to the coast and we decided to give them a bit of privacy. An enormous double breach up ahead led us to a fascinating pod of five Humpbacks, all of varying age groups with the youngest still a teenager at 4-8 years of age. They were initially a little dominant as they chased after each other for a while before the hierarchy was established. All five then began to group up together and begin to leave the bay as a big social pod set on the long migration ahead. The Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse guided us back home with a flicker of light and the Humpbacks in the storm creating a special and exhilarating day.
