Perth Juvenile Humpback Whales are currently southbound and today we met some of these wonderfully curious teenagers who came in for an incredibly close look! The first of the Humpback Whale population to head south are the yearlings, juveniles and newly pregnant females. Ready to begin feeding as quickly as possible these will be the first of the population to return back to the summer feeding grounds of Antarctica. The journey south is still a long one and before they continue the next stage of their journey rest and relaxation is very important for these young whales. Approaching our first pod for the morning they were shy to begin with, but we could see through their body language an interest towards us so we calmly waited for when they were ready to begin the greetings. It didn’t take too long as both youngsters began to swim directly towards us and were suddenly full of confidence as they swam around the Steep Point.
Continuing the interaction they completed a couple of lovely spy hops to get a better look at everyone on the bow and again on the stern. Two beautiful young whales showing the very special nature these trusting Humpback Whales have. Wishing them well for the rest of their afternoon we joined another pod with a total of six whales following after one another excitedly. Mostly juveniles, there was one very large adult amongst the mix which showed a good size comparison. It was a good example why another pod had been head lunging earlier as they communicated to these six whales that they weren’t wanting them to approach their area. A wonderful morning to meet some of the Perth juvenile Humpback Whales currently migrating past our coastline and get to know some of the next generation of Humpbacks who will soon be important members of the breeding population here in Western Australia.
