Southern Right Whale Selfies this morning as a young Southern Right swam straight towards our bow and stopped us in our tracks, a big personality who wanted to socialise! We first had sighted the tall blows of Humpback Whales just ahead and were continuing forward when a large, dark shadow appeared from the depths and slowly moved closer and closer towards the bow. The unique callosity pattern shone through and we could see a Southern Right Whale was investigating us. Within moments of approaching he was swimming in circles around and around the bow, completely besotted with the vessel and everyone onboard! It was the perfect opportunity for some Southern Right Whale selfies as he held a beautiful Southern Right smile.
The other pods around us watched on from afar except for one curious Humpback Whale who began to approach our stern. Looking carefully we could see that this Humpback once had some rather severe sunburns on his flanks which have healed over time. The white patterns you can see are the scarring caused by the burns and thankfully this Humpback now looks in great health with no lingering troubles. He was curious and would surface regularly just on our starboard side while keeping a close eye on things. The beautiful Southern Right Whale continued his curious approaches as he checked out our port and starboard side before venturing to our stern for a good look. Our guests enjoyed water level viewing as he completed his 360 degree investigation of the Steep Point and returned to his favourite place… the bow! Leaving a new friend like this is always hard and after our farewells he ever so gracefully lifted his fluke and disappeared back into the depths, our whales certainly capture our hearts and imaginations during our time with them.