Just before the rain there was a distant sighting of steam rising from the surface of the ocean and the moment of mesmerisation was quickly broken when SPLASH a fluke broke the surface and the sea started to bubble with the unmistakable energy of yet another competition pod… that is five competition pods in two days! Making our approach we could see eight whales chasing a very fast female across Flinders Bay and at one point they were travelling at 16km per hour which is just off their top speed of 20km per hour, the amazing race was on.
Two sub adult Humpback Whales were enjoying our company during our first encounter for the morning and most likely trying to keep a low profile away from the big males competing a few kilometres away. The noise from these competition pods can be heard easily by all whales within the bay and they will either look to join this pod or keep well away. Looking forward to the next few weeks as we start to see the big breeding age adults arrive and compete in this epic Humpback Whale migration!
