Humpback Whales visit Flinders Bay during the months of late May to August and today we had extraordinary interactions with a whale upside down a meter from our bow and effortless breaching. The calm conditions this morning sighted many escort pods scattered right throughout Flinders Bay and in the still waters we could watch their every move. The lofty exhalations lingered for just that bit longer in the gentle breeze and after spending some time with a couple of different pods who were sleeping we came across a very special whale. This Humpback started to swim towards us slowly and calmly disappeared for a few minutes as we scanned all around. A giant shadow began to appear next to us and we could excitedly see the shadow of this beautiful Humpback Whale lifting up from the deep to meet us. Absolutely gorgeous was this whale who proceeded to spin upside down on our bow and felt so close we could reach out and give him a belly rub. Extremely interested in us as his companion seemed to be sleeping underneath us, we sat still and enjoyed a very special interaction with this remarkable Humpback Whale.
It is always sad to depart a new friend, but he had kept us mesmerised for a long time and we decided to tiptoe out of the area and bid our new friends farewell as they continued to rest calmly after a very long swim from Antarctica. The energy was about to quickly change though as it often does when the Humpback Whales visit Flinders Bay. A young Humpback launched into breaching and head lunging which caught out attention. Approaching this exuberant individual we quickly noticed that his dorsal fin was missing, this brave little Humpback was the survivor of a serious Orca attack and although still retained the scars on his back and no longer having a dorsal fin, was moving just like any other Humpback Whale. At first it appeared to be a young female whale but on closer inspection and thanks to those incredible full body breaching we could identify this special whale as a young male. He continued to breach next to us and seemed to be showing off, looking to find a suitable friend who he can travel with on the journey north. Two special Humpbacks on a fun filled and extraordinary winters morning whale watching in Augusta.
