Rottnest Island Humpback Whale Experience was wonderful as on both tours the whales were busy making the most of their time near the island. A cool breeze remained after a couple of windy and rainy days, but this morning the sun was out and shining brightly. Our morning pod was just lovely and oh so curious as we approached a muffled blow and drifted while waiting for that next surfacing. A powerful exhale followed and they were on their way over to say good morning as they both swam directly towards the bow with much enthusiasm and curiosity. Circling around us, they gave us a good investigation until it was time to continue on their way and we soon noticed why as a murky shadow of a Bronze Whaler Shark appeared below the surface soon after these two launched into some defensive tail lobs.
Humpback Whales will often react to any predatory activity and should sharks linger around the whales a few powerful tail lobs should clear the area. Our midday tour was an exciting one as we came across an escort pod who were on the migration path south. All was calm until a bachelor male arrived on scene as he barreled towards us and used our vessels sound footprint to hide in his approach. The escort male knew he was in the area and continued to defensively launch into full boy breaching which was spectacular but didn’t slow the approaching challenger male. Arriving at speed the pods collided and we now had ourselves a competition pod with the boys chasing and jostling for position. It took a while but eventually the original primary escort male succeeded in keeping his position and protecting his female from the challenger. He moved off and began to look for opportunities elsewhere and we wished him well on his search as he began to approach other pods nearby.
