A beautiful day in Perth, Western Australia as we creep up on Spring and as the days start to get warmer the Humpbacks are starting to make their way back south again. The northern migration can take its toll with wild winter storms and thousands of kilometres travel. Two large adult Humpbacks were showing the signs of a big northern migration with their body weight depleted and as the male protected his female with powerful head lunging we could clearly see this extraordinary weight loss. It may have been a tiring trip, but these whales are celebrating being in the waters just off Perth as they approach closer to their feeding grounds. Resting in the sheltered waters off Perth they will enjoy the sunny days and warming weather as they anticipate their next long awaited meal of Antarctic Krill which is now slowly beginning to prosper a few thousand kilometres away.
The two large adults approached our stern and bow of the vessel to investigate and take a closer look. While they were watching us we carefully scanned every inch of their bodies as we start to see the condition of the southern migrating Humpbacks. Will they be skinnier than usual this season or are there any signs of injuries or entanglements to report, each season is always different. These two adults, although skinny, both showed signs of good health with shiny skin and crystal clear white flukes as all of those patches of algae collected in Antarctica have now long gone in the tropical waters of the Kimberly. The enormity of their exhalation made us all jump when they surfaced right alongside us as 300-600 kilometres per hour of exhalation rocketed skywards! A long journey back to Antarctica still awaits these two but they are one step closer as they take a quick break in the waters off Perth.
