West Coast Whale Watch on a picture perfect day in Augusta as the calm conditions sent the Humpback Whales northbound. The morning started with intensity as a competition pod had began in the shallows close to the reef line. Approaching this pod of five we watched on as they jostled and chased after one another, each trying to get closer to the female. One of the males repeated a special behaviour over and over in an attempt to distract the others, the reversal. Lifting his rostrum high above the waters surface in what looks like a spy hop, they then sink backwards into the water and push back any whales encroaching from behind. Eventually they made a beeline for the reef and we wished them well as we continued on with our beautiful morning in the company of Albatross and migrating escort pods with the north on their mind.
The afternoon sunshine stretched out over the bay and the Common Dolphins escorted us to the cape as further escort pods migrated through the area. We travelled with one pod and were just explaining how whales communicate with each other often when pods start to converge when the pod to our left took a sharp right hand turn. Straight away there was a response as the pod to our left reacted, the young male launched into a full body breach just off our bow and landed with an almighty splash! That breach did the job, gave us all a fright and managed to deter those two whales from coming any closer. We spent a bit of time with the other escort pods and busily feeding Gannets before meeting a small competition pod of three in the shallows of the bay. Staying with them for a while we watched excitedly as they chased each other around and underneath us in close quarters. It was fantastic to watch as the big white bellied male challenged the position of the primary male escort with much effort all the while dancing around our feet.
