Whale Watch Alliance – Join the Competition Pod™ An extraordinary day in Flinders Bay as we sighted enormous breaching, curious approaches, an alliance pod of male Bottlenose Dolphins interacting with Humpbacks and a very intense competition pod to complete a special day. Our morning began with a very sleepy and very large adult Humpback, he would gently pop his head above the surface before completing a slow half belly roll with one on each side for good measure. Allowing our relaxed friend to continue his morning we joined with a whale watch alliance as two exuberant Humpbacks chased after a very large pod of thirty male Bottlenose Dolphins. Male Bottlenose Dolphins will often join with others males in what is known as an alliance pod and their confident energy was rubbing off onto the Humpbacks. Approaching our bow, we were surrounded by many Dolphins and two beautiful Humpbacks. Completing a very special morning we looked up and watched as two nearby adult Humpbacks both launched simultaneously into breaching and head lunging as they communicated to the many other Humpbacks around them.
Our afternoon experience was also of similar energy as a young female Humpback performed whip like fluke slaps to attract the attention of all nearby while her male escort was trying to deter that attention with a few dominant peduncle slaps. The afternoon settled into a sleepy lull as we were surrounded by seven relaxing Humpbacks until… white water ahead! A huge amount of energy was bubbling not far away and excitedly we watched as a competition pod began to form. The female was launching into enormous breaches and as we watched their approach we held our breath, within moments she was lifting her forty plus ton frame gracefully into the air only meters from our bow, unbelievable! They continued to charge, rumble and exhale huge voluminous blows as we celebrated the first fo the big adults to arrive in Augusta and display the essence of the northern migration, an incredible whale watch spectacle.
