Where to see the best Whale Watch in Fremantle was just off the coastline today as we had a very exciting competition pod encircle our vessel as they moved south through Stragglers Reef. The female was leading the male Humpback Whales on a merry swim as they pushed and shoved each other to get as close as possible to the female to become her preferred escort and hopefully mate. There was plenty of tail slapping and snaking, which is when the Whale moves their tail horizontally instead of vertically, this surface action clears the space behind the whale and indicates to the others to avoid that area. The main escort was showing his strength and bulk size as he did reversal after reversal which is when they will stretch themselves out to appear bigger than they are, lift their rostrum above the water and then reverse or slide back into the water.
This action today was very unusual as we were in extremely shallow water (less than 8 meters) for this style of defence to be performed with such larger adult Whales. We also enjoyed the company of two big adults cruising together as they socialised with each other and also the local Bottlenose Dolphins who had come over to join in on the fun which caused some playful energy amongst the pods. Lifting the fluke clear of the water below and showing off every little scar and detail, it was a spectacular sight to watch our Humpback perform the perfect headstand right in front of the bow! The area around Rottnest Island was alive with Humpbacks today all expressing the Language of the Whales™ as they moved southbound heading back to Antarctica for their summer feeding.
So for the best Whale Watch in WA be sure to check your very own back yard right here in Fremantle & Perth, meet some of the members of the largest Humpback population on the planet!
