Perth Humpback Whale calf season has officially begun as the first trickle of mothers and their new babies have arrived in the sighting grounds and have certainly brought much joy! There are still a good number of adults making their way south but now scattered in and amongst these bachelor and escort pods are the mums and calves making the most of our resting grounds located in the waters just off Perth. Our morning tour enjoyed the company of a very healthy calf whose mum had the attention of the boys and it is always great to see how these young calves get the opportunity to learn about social skills, courtship and competition pods as they travel closely to mum and watch as everything unfolds around them. The two boys were very well behaved as they competed but politely to ensure they didn’t upset mum, lots of pushing and shoving until the challenger peeled away leaving the original primary male escort as the victor.
Our midday tour started with an escort pod resting calmly together as a nearby mum, calf and protective male escort became boisterous. The calf began to breach repeatedly before mum joined in and encouraged her little one to practice some tail lobs and inverted tail slaps. The youngster followed mums encouragement and did a great job in practicing and perfecting her tail lob form before the nearby escort pod took notice. Approaching with interest, we watched on to see the male who had been escorting mum and calf turn his interest towards the escort pod female. Leaving mum and calf behind he raced over towards the escort pod while mumma whale took the opportunity to guide her calf away from the commotion and find a quiet place to rest away from all the fuss. The remaining three adults started to chase each other around and underneath us with trumpeting and wrestling unfolding at the surface. A very exciting way of completing a special midday tour with our marvellous Humpback Whales.
The afternoon tour was a different tempo altogether as we approached multiple pods converging and with no calves nearby the adults were free to compete. Twelve individuals formed into a brief Humpback Whale mega pod before they dispersed with the two females and their male escorts making a quick escape before the competition became too intense. The remaining bachelor males moved off and one pod of seven boys then began to patrol the resting grounds in search of further females. After a while they were joined by another two bachelor males as all nine continued on their way towards Rottnest Island in the beautiful afternoon sunshine that cast a golden glow over the sighting grounds. A very entertaining day out with the Humpback Whales of Western Australia enjoying this marvellous time of the sighting season.
