The Blackwood River has created coffee stained water surrounding the Southern Right Whale nursery grounds as they enjoy this extra cloak over cover. Their vision is very good, but by taking advantage of the murky conditions it enables mothers and calves to have an extra shield of protection. Two young adults were socialising with much rolling and twisting at the surface when the local Bottlenose Dolphins arrived in quite a spectacular fashion as they launched their entire bodies into the atmosphere! A perfect way to keep moving quickly while breathing and better yet have a fantastic view of everything that is happening around them. They must have spied the Southern Right Whales as they changed course and raced straight towards them.
Interactions between whales and dolphins is rare to see although it does happen frequently in the wild, for humans it is all about being in the right place at the right time. The adults raced in circles around the Right Whales who seemed bemused with their arrival. After saying hello they were off again as the Dolphins moved towards the Blackwood River to continue searching for their next meal. The Southern Right Whales have now taken over their corner of Flinders Bay with mothers and calves tucked in close to the shoreline and the breeding age adults enjoying slightly roomier conditions a few hundred meters from the coast. The males seem to have paired up with the available females for now with these separate courtship pods keeping a small distance between each other. The young yearling female also has found a friend around the same age group as herself to spend time with.
