Blue Whale Australia sightings are incredibly special for this elusive species and today our hearts skipped a beat as the largest creature on our planet surfaced in the waters off Perth. Winding back to the beginning of our morning, perfect conditions escorted us to the sighting grounds and shortly after arriving the silhouette of a mother Humpback Whale and her calf moved through the glassy ocean surface. She was relaxed and so was her calf, determined to make their way towards Rottnest Island this morning. We built a strong trust with this pod and each surfacing allowed mother to relax as she got to know us and understand we were curious towards her and calf. She decided that we were trustworthy and gently guided her calf over for a closer look, thankfully this trust had been built as a recreational vessel now approached the interaction.
The female Humpback could feel the rushed and more assertive movements of this vessel and she responded by avoiding the small boat, deliberately swimming underneath or behind us to avoid interaction with the recreational vessel. A perfect example of the importance of respect when working with any wildlife, whales in particular are incredibly intelligent and don’t respond positively towards erratic energy and vessel movements. Eventually, the smaller vessel departed the area and we could see mother Humpback relax and finally she was now able to keep moving towards Rottnest Island, so we took that opportunity to allow her to continue in the peaceful conditions as we continued our search for what this lovely morning had for us next.
A tall, graceful blow billowed skywards and a mottled grey peduncle slipped below the surface, it was a Blue! Excitement rippled thorough the boat as everyone anticipated the next surfacing of one of the worlds most famous mammals and a member of the largest species to have ever lived on our planet. The second resurfacing was even closer this time and we could observe that this was a curious juvenile Blue Whale, completely relaxed and gently moving through the Humpback resting grounds. Further Humpback Whale pods moved around us, but it was the Blue Whale that stole the show as this immense individual ever so gracefully moved through the glassy conditions. Photo ID images were collected and we were amazed to watch as the Blue Whale eventually tracked towards the original mother and calf we had been with earlier on in the morning. Over the next 15 or so minutes this Blue shadowed the movements of mother and calf who were only 100 meters ahead, perhaps this young Blue was seeking guidance from this mature mother Humpback to lead the way into deeper water and back onto the southbound journey. Although we thought the morning couldn’t get any better, the local Bottlenose Dolphins arrived just in time to ensure that we remembered that they also lived here too! A truely special morning we will always remember and such a privilege to share with our guests the treasures that can be found in the waters of Western Australia.
