When a Humpback calf is at play it can be easy for them to be distracted, especially when a curious Bottlenose Dolphin comes over to join in on the fun! Today a gorgeous calf and his mum were cruising along when the little one decided we looked rather interesting and with mums permission slowly approached (mum was following right next to him of course) and swam towards our bow. As we continued to get to know this pod better we watched as they enjoyed the beautiful morning and the calf played with anything he could find to amuse himself including seaweed, his mum and also us.
A small dorsal fin was noticed moving towards us and we smiled as we recognised the lone male Bottlenose Dolphin who we often sight frequenting the area we were in. He was interested in what fun the calf was having and made a gentle approach. The calf seemed so very pleased to have another play mate and within moments he was chasing him along the surface of the water, his little rostrum held above the surface as he looked over towards us before continuing the chase after his Dolphin friend. It was at this moment he completely forgot about mum and was 10-15 meters away from her and continuing to follow his new buddy. Thankfully mum is always constantly aware of what is happening and launched into a big tail lob to assert her authority over the pod and get control of the situation. Immediately her calf returned back to her side and Mr. Dolphin waited a few minutes before rejoining again, understanding that it was important to do as mum said even when a Humpback Calf is enjoying a little bit of playtime. Two large adults were also cruising past in an escort pod as their enormous size and sleepy demeanour meant that they had been holding their breath for the last half an hour only a few hundred meters away from the mother, calf and Bottlenose Dolphin.
