Flinders Bay was alive with activity today as numerous Humpback Whale pods traversed through the bay and our first encounter was with an escort pod. Humpbacks breaching in Augusta is very common during the northern migration with many competition pods and high energy… what is not so common is breaching 20 meters from the bow! The male was making sure it was clear that the female he was travelling with was his and a peduncle slap and two breaches later sent a clear message to everyone. Spectacular to watch as he launched his 40+ tonne frame above the waters surface from a depth of only 14 meters.
We left the escort pod to continue their journey towards the reef line and were flanked either side by a mother/yearling/escort pod to the left and a large male to our left who was charging across the bay. The pod of three moved past and seemed slightly anxious to the large male moving straight towards them, but the needn’t be nervous as he was not focused on them but a large competition pod starting to form not far away. So off we went as we joined this focused male who was travelling over 10kph to reach the competition pod in time. Upon his arrival there was much jostling, spy hopping and changing of direction as the female tried to keep herself one step ahead of the males. The high energy, surface acrobatic communications and numerous pods is exactly what the northern migration is all about and very exciting this afternoon to be right amongst the activities!
