The suburban Whales of Fremantle were enjoying the views of our coastline today as they socialised with breaching and tail lobbing as much fun was had as we were welcomed into the pod. Beginning our morning with a mother, calf and her escort who swam directly towards us to show off her calf before moving towards a second pod close by. The little one breached and tail slapped to get the attention of his future playmate but the mother and calf seemed slightly concerned about the confident approach and quickly swam towards us before trying to hide next to our vessel. There was no fooling the approaching calf though and it wasn’t long before they had joined together.
Yet another mother and calf approached from our right and suddenly we had four adult whales and three calves all swimming as one right alongside our vessel. It is always a special experience to be welcomed into a pod and enjoy observing their social behaviours while the calves eagerly play and show off towards each other. Leaving them to continue their preparation for the next stage of their journey when they will depart Fremantle and travel further south along our coastline we sighted a fourth mother and calf pod who were being very surface active with continual tail lobs as the mother taught her calf The Language of the Whales™. One tail lob from mum and then quickly followed by another tail lob by the calf, a system of learning that we could happily observe all day long. Soon other pods joined in with the conversation as two nearby calves also responded with some breaching and tail lobs of their own. The Whales of Fremantle never cease to amaze us with their very urban socialising location just off Fremantle and how they use busy environments to their advantage.
