South West Whales were busy today with breaching, social interactions and an afternoon competition pod lighting up Flinders Bay. During both our morning and afternoon departures, we were fortunate to encounter sleeping whales near the coast, peacefully resting after their long journey from Antarctica. It must be incredibly rewarding for them to safely reach Augusta, allowing them to relax before heading north. As we ventured further, we spotted numerous pods engaging in lively communication, marked by breaching, tail slapping, and tail lobbing within a 500-meter radius around us. Witnessing the ripple effect of communication among the pods was truly mesmerising, as they spoke the Language of the Whales. Throughout the day, we observed a consistent pattern, with many individuals launching into one or two breaches before moving towards another pod, which would respond in kind, creating an exhilarating atmosphere throughout the bay.
The local Bottlenose Dolphins decided to join in on the fun as they raced over having noticed all the excitement the Humpback Whales were creating. Currently there are many bachelor males moving through Flinders Bay and with this come much social behaviour but that will soon change when further females arrive as things become a lot more competitive. The afternoon we sighted three whales moving quickly through the bay and could see two males vying for the females attention. She was leading them on a chase through the bay as they ran into a wall of other Humpback pods who all responded immediately. Erupting around us with breaching they all seemed to take turns in communicating as the flow of conversation moved throughout each pod. The youngsters dived for a distraction cover as they moved closely underneath our vessel while the older, more boisterous bachelor males moved past. It was a fun filled day and we cannot wait for the weekend to start for some more wonderful times with the South West Whales.
