Augusta Whales breaching and competition pods charging through Flinders Bay made for an exciting day of whale watching. The morning was sunshine and whales as within moments of leaving the harbour we were in the company of an escort pod calmly swimming past the harbour and moving towards the reef line. They were relaxed and very curious towards us as they gently picked up smalls clumps of seaweed to play with on their travels. A competition pod had formed in the corner of the reef line and as we approached they barrelled towards us. Intense energy and agile movements had them flying left to right and around in circles again as all four of the males energetically chased after the female. She deliberately led them towards us and it was incredible to feel the energy of this powerful pod as the males tried their best to be closest to the female.
The afternoon was just as busy, everywhere we looked the tall, lofty exhales of whales linger and give away the position of each pod. In total we were surrounded by three competition pods, males scattered to decide which was the best female to follow after and once again they were racing around our vessel in search of a distraction. One of the males was kicked out of the first competition pod we were involved in and he seemed so very frustrated, launching into a few enormous barrel role breaches which were incredible! A few agitated pec slaps followed as he raced up to the next competition pod but appeared to not be welcomed there either as yet another barrel role breach followed as he kicked up a frustrated fuss before moving southbound, maybe a female could be found this way. The Bottlenose Dolphins came over to say hello and we enjoyed yet another perfect day whale watching in Augusta, continually amazed by the power of the Humpback.
