Perth Winter Whale Watch on a beautiful winters day was enjoyed with many Humpback Whales on the northbound march. Scanning the sighting grounds we could see a few pods moving through and our very sighting was a special one, it was a mother whale and her brand new calf! Our first Humpback Whale calf sighting for Season 2026 and we very grateful for the opportunity to meet this precious new addition to the population. A small percentage of the mother whales this migration will give birth to their calf much further south than many of the other pregnant mothers. The reason for the early arrival can be variable and include higher stress levels due to being caught up in competition pods or pursued by predators such as Orca while increased water temperature as they move towards Australia can kickstart the process labour.
Mum and bub looked very well and were heading north, although an early arrival it appeared mumma whale is going to make sure her little gets to enjoy some warmer waters further north in the coming weeks. Our next pod was a very large and highly likely pregnant female migrating with her male escort as they cruised together and covered ground efficiently. It was wonderful to see both complete beautiful round out dives at each surfacing enabling a perfect opportunity to capture their fluke id image. The female also completed a cheeky breach out of the blue and seemed in good spirits as she was relaxed and looking to be in great physical shape indicating a summer well spent feasting on krill. Keeping an eye on the movements of all the Humpback Whales was an Antarctic Skua and young Yellow-nosed Albatross who worked with the light winds we had today to glide over much ground.
