Hillarys Boat Harbour Whale Watching today as we found ourselves all the way out and inline with the Hillarys Boat Harbour as our first sighting erupted. A powerful tail lob from a lone whale indicated that this individual must have been disturbed by another pod our possibly as shark with the powerful movement clearing the area. Arriving we could see that this was a large male who had now settled back down into resting mode as further pods navigated past around him. A mother, calf and male escort cruised on past as a large ship began to approach the area. Our Western Australian Humpback Whales do not have any concern towards these shipping channels and instead use the sound of the ships to their advantage, hiding in the sound footprint.
The mother Humpbacks carefully teach the calves how to safely navigate amongst vessel traffic. The approaching ship had also ignited some tail slapping on the other side of the shipping channel as a refreshed mother and calf began to tail lob and fluke slap. Practicing the Language of the Whales in this way helps the calf to better understand the correct moments to use noisy surface activity and when its a better time to remain quiet. It was a special moment to watch as yet a further two pods crossed paths and two mothers allowed their two calves to meet, a very social morning for the next generation of Western Australian Humpback Whales. It is also fantastic to see some good numbers as further pods meet us one our Hillarys Boat Harbour Whale Watching.
