Margaret River Region Whale Watching is fantastic during the months of June to August as we sight the northern migration of our Humpback and Southern Right Whales. Today we began our morning with a large competition pod of six individuals who raced through Flinders Bay at top speeds with the female leading the way. Their fast pace and sleek bodies slipped through the ocean with ease as each male jostled for position and we watched unique behaviours like “bull frogging” where a male will inflate his throat at the surface to appear bigger towards other males. Bubble veils and chin slaps also ensued as the males did their very best to impress the lady and deter each other! Charging towards our vessel they dived under and around us as the female used our vessel as a distraction and the clever males took the opportune moment to get closer to the female as they overtook any male who missed a step.
We were stopped in our tracks by a sleepy surfacing adult Southern Right Whale who was wondering what all the fuss was about. A wonderful surprise to see a lovely adult in the middle of Flinders Bay and one surprise became two as another adult surfaced… and then another! We were laughing as we watched a very good party trick our Southern Right Whales seemed to have mastered as one whale turned into three. Looking carefully we easily recognised all three individuals, they were the same individuals from the courtship pod we had sighted only a few days ago.
A wonderful clue of information and further addition to our research gathered today as we re-sighted the two males and one female who only a short time ago had been actively mating in the bay. A little further along our morning journey and we sighted the precious result of the courtship pods, 10-11 months later a tiny baby Southern Right Whale will be born and this little fellow was resting peacefully with mum in the shallows. Margaret River whale watching is at its best in Augusta as we sight both species in one wonderful morning!
