Three cetacean species in one day this morning is the perfect example as to why Flinders Bay, Augusta is one of the best places in the world to go whale watching. A privilege to have the opportunity to meet three unique cetacean of the Western Australian coastline as we began our morning with the curious approach of our local Bottlenose Dolphins who swam towards our bow to say their good mornings before continuing on the morning breakfast run. A black tail fluke hovering above the surface straight ahead captured our attention as we made our way towards this peculiar looking sight in the middle of Flinders Bay. Approaching we could see cetacean species number two for the morning as the distinctive pectoral fin and fluke of three Southern Right Whales danced at the surface. Excitedly as we watched closely we could clearly see courtship behaviour as the female was being seduced by two males and we had to avert our gaze at times due to the very close contact between the three whales! Sighting mating Southern Right Whales is a once in a lifetime experience that was not only incredible to witness but we also learnt so much by observing this very unique Language of the Whales™ right here in Flinders Bay, Augusta.
The only distraction we had as we watched the Southern Rights only meters away from our bow was a loud, “Breeeeach!” as just off our port side a Humpback Whale was launching into a full bodied breach, our third cetacean sighting for the morning. Watching carefully as head lunging, inverted fluke slapping and tail lobbing moved towards us. The male had decided to deter the other Humpback pods close by with some spectacular surface activity and as we made our approach the female he was travelling with also responded to the other males with enormous breaching! She seemed interested in attracting some attention and continued to breach towards us and in front of our bow before also pec slapping to make sure the boys could hear her loud and clear. Within moments another male had raced towards them causing Humpback Whales to divert and move quickly away from the approaching bachelor male. Our perfect morning was completed with a further sighting of six more Southern Right Whales including two mother and calf pods. Three cetacean species in one day is a dream come true for many and an opportunity that we would not have without the wonderful Flinders Bay, Augusta.
