Hillarys
Giant Shark stalks Humpback Whales in the waters off Perth today as mothers and their calves were followed by a huge Bronze Whaler. Departing the Hillarys Boat Harbour aboard Whale Watch 1 we moved towards the resting grounds as a mother and her calf surfaced close by. The research we collect onboard every tour provides the perfect opportunity to document and identify pods and we were very excited to see this was one of the mother and calf pods we interacted with yesterday morning. The calf was curious and approached with mum closely alongside to say a friendly good morning before continuing on with their travels. Further pods just ahead were also on the move and it didn’t take long to see why as the call went out, an enormous shark was circling Whale Watch 1! It appeared this shark had been closely following mother and calf with its attention now focused towards us instead. Disappearing into the deep blue we hoped this beautiful predator had decided to look for hunting opportunities elsewhere. During our cruise back towards the coast we encountered one last little Humpback Whale family on our return as the calf enjoyed a couple of breaches and pec slapping playfully in the seaweed.
Fremantle
Cruising towards the sighting grounds a tall blow just ahead indicated whales were moving through and seemed to have some energy about them. Arriving and watching carefully the female began to move towards us as she joined with a second pod that was also in the area. Whale Watch 1 was just to our starboard side when the call of shark went out amongst everyone and we could see guests peering into the water just bellow their feet onboard Whales Watch 1, the shark was close! When a giant shark stalks Humpback Whales the sharks tend to keep a low profile, seeming to fully appreciate the size and strength of the whales they are following. Thankfully they are usually opportunistic and generally only target sick, injured or entangled whales. Smart enough to know that this mother and her calf were fully aware of the presence of this top predator and ready to take him on should he have any ideas the shark kept a respectful distance. It appeared the very smart shark was not going to try his luck this morning and moved away from Whale Watch 1 to leave the Humpback Whales be for the rest of their morning travels.
