Perth Humpback Whale experience during October is a wonderful mix of gorgeous calves with watchful mums and bachelor males in their final opportunities of competing for a female. Our morning tour was spent with one of the most intense competition pods we have observed throughout this years migration so far. The boys were extraordinary as they launched and charged at each other with great speed which sent white water and flukes a-flying. It was incredible to witness their energy after what has been huge migration for them, but they are still dedicated to these opportunities of winning a female and today all of them were working so hard. The female was clever and used us as a distraction, moving around us and underneath at different times of the competition in an attempt to settle the males just a little bit, but the boys never let up for the full hour they were competing.
It wasn’t until the end of the interaction did they start to show signs of tiring as they would spend a bit longer replenishing oxygen at the surface. The midday tour firstly observed a curious but shy yearling who was looking for a resting spot near Gage Roads, a lesson learnt from mum last year. The second pods were mums and calves resting quietly as they noticed a gathering of adults a little further ahead. Breaching and pec slapping indicated whales were converging with five seperate pods moving towards the same area. One lone traveller sent out a pec slap to try and see if they could get a response from the others but they maintained their low profile. Instead he moved over towards a pod of two with some energy at the surface but they too eventually settled. Our last pod was a mum, calf and protective male escort who were enjoying some time in the resting grounds. A nearby tail lob from another mother whale got their attention but all was well as they resettled back into relax mode for the afternoon ahead.
