Winter Whales everywhere in Flinders Bay today as another wave of the northern migration arrived and numerous pods communicated the Language of the Whales™ and approached us for an incredibly close encounter. Breaching and tail slapping first captured our attention shortly after departing the Augusta Boat Harbour as two pods seemed to be having a bit of a conversation. Beautiful pec slapping continued as the whales welcomed us with open pectorals and we smiled to see so much activity and conversation amongst them all. Two whales in particular were extremely interested towards us and they began to swim towards the bow as shadows were sighted below us. It is always special being this close to wild whales and watching them calmly hang motionlessly underneath us as they listened in to our “heartbeat” being the engines ticking over. They were fascinated and began to slowly resurface as the curious 360 investigation unfolded around us.
The male had a large white belly and seemed just as curious towards us as his female companion but the more attention she put towards us, the more attentive her male companion became. Shuffling around the stern and then back up towards the bow, he was escorting her along but each time she would return back to us. Even some playful tail lobs didn’t do the trick as he did his best to keep an eye on her and make sure she didn’t decide to swim off with us! He needn’t worry though, after over an hour of curious investigation she decided she was ready to continue on the migration path north and he celebrated with an enormous lifting of his fluke before splashing back down. Further pods throughout the bay were also focused on the journey ahead as these pods moved north and look set to continue that journey into warmer waters as we enjoy winter whales everywhere in beautiful Flinders Bay, Augusta with some rather lovely warm sunshine too!
