Whale Watch in July when visiting Western Australia, it is a must do and one of the very best times to observe the epic Humpback migration. Today we were excited to be back out in Flinders Bay after a few days of adverse weather and a little surprise was waiting to greet us only a few minutes after departure. Bobbing up to the surface directly in front was a tiny Humpback calf who seemed all on his own. We watched carefully, ever hopeful mum was exactly where she should be, directly underneath her baby. A few minutes passed until mum finally did surface and she was enormous, gracefully lifting herself alongside her calf as they both peered back at us. The third Humpback calf we have sighted this season and we hope both mother and calf will make their way to warmer, northern waters very soon after their time spent in Flinders Bay, Augusta.
Our next encounter was with a cheeky juvenile who appeared to be practicing his feeding technique at the surface, rolling onto his side and expanding out those throat pleats. A spectacular sight we don’t often observe and it wasn’t long before this young Humpback was swimming underneath our bow and interacting. The afternoon also had interesting behaviour as we watched two Humpbacks in courtship displays. Twisting and turning, they appeared to dance together in the shallows as they swam over to us and continued their interaction. To whale watch in July means there is a high possibility to observe these flirty Humpback behaviours and although mating has never been captured on film before, we have witnessed many hours of courtship interaction. Not even a passing juvenile Humpback or playful Bottlenose Dolphins could distract these two from their dance, we were mesmerised as we watched the Humpback waltz!
