We are starting to see the peak of our southern Humpback migration as over twenty mother and calf pods were sighted today surrounding the coast just off Perth! We met a very special pod of two mother and calf pairs who had joined up and school was in for the morning as the mums let their babies practice and play the Language of the Whales which resulted in some amazing and adorable moments between the two calves. Seeing two Humpback calves play together is not always common to sight as female Humpbacks can be very picky on which other whales they allow to come close which made todays interaction even more special… and two baby whales trying to outdo each other with baby peduncle slaps is just too cute.
With two boisterous calves trying to outdo each other with breaching and peduncle slapping it wasn’t long until many of the other calves in pods close by started to join in and we could see plumes of white water all around us. These two calves and their mums were wonderful to spend some time with and the smallest calf who was slightly darker amazed us with his persistence in keeping up with the larger calf and it was fantastic to see this little one even try out some inverted tail slapping (lying on his back and tail slapping). October is a fantastic month to see baby Humpback Whales and their mums as they continue a long migration to the summer feeding grounds located in Antarctica.
We also had an incredible moment today as two fighter jets rocketed past and out towards the Perth Canyon. The spectacle was made even greater as both mothers and calves continued to play and interact with the smallest calf even throwing in a few more peduncle slaps to show off that he could fly too! What an amazing moment it was to see this on a beautiful day in Perth.
