Perth Whale Watching 2020 continues as today we met pods of busy Humpback Whales following others southbound, but not before a quick stopover in the waters off beautiful Perth! Tall blows were sighted up ahead and as we approached we observed a bit of commotion as three whales all surfaced together in a hurry. Following after one another, a further pod of three launches into a few tail slaps to establish their dominance. The pod closest to us moved towards the bow before diving underneath, this escort pod had a tail following them. A younger whale had approached the two adults and was following closely as all three zigzagged around us with the adults attempt to distract the juvenile. It did eventually work as they managed to gain some momentum and distance away from the curious youngster and began to swim towards a nice calm area to rest in.
The pod of three we had sighted earlier had now made their way out past Rottnest Island and were set on this course. One individual had the most beautiful, jet black fluke which is not overly common to sight in the Western Australian Humpback Whale population. Lifting that gorgeous fluke gracefully it was a striking contrast to the wide underside of his mates fluke who surfaced alongside him. These three appeared to be a rather relaxed bachelor pod who seemed to enjoy our company as they went about their day. An approaching vessel disturbed the energy amongst the pod and ourselves which caused one of the males to launch into a warning tail lob, asserting his dominance and requesting a larger reactionary distance. The secondary vessel moved away and the boys reverted back to their mellow mood as they hung out with us in cruise control, veering towards the Humpback Highway as the Perth whale watching 2020 season continues.
