Mothers and calves seemed a lot more relaxed today without all the boys chasing them around like yesterday morning! It is interesting to see the different sized calves that are currently cruising past Fremantle with their mums, some are larger while others are on the smaller side. This is often determined by a number of different factors such as the mothers age, where the calf was born along the coast and how much energy both mother and calf have used keeping away from predators such as shark and Orca.
Calves are happily consuming over 200 litres of mothers milk everyday and enjoy using some of the energy gained from the milk for play and practice. Mum on the other hand must keep focused on preserving her dwindling blubber supply so she can safely sustain herself and calf on the long journey back to Antarctica. Thankfully the sheltered waters close to Fremantle offer the perfect resting ground for the hundreds of cow/calf pods we are expecting over the next few weeks.
