Western Australia’s newest Humpback Whale was a huge surprise this morning as a precious newborn calf surfaced alongside mum in Flinders Bay. It is early in the season but each year we generally sight between four to seven calves in Flinders Bay and this tiny newborn was the first for Season 2022. A gorgeous baby with a huge white belly that extended all the way up the flanks with a tiny black dorsal fin, this little one looked just like a scoop of vanilla ice cream! Mother whale seemed content as she cruised through the bay and balanced her little one carefully on her long pectoral fin to help support and make the journey a little easier. It was good to see that she was travelling with a male escort who protectively swam alongside mother and calf.
A good thing he was there as throughout the bay multiple pods could be seen and all were on the move. Travelling quickly put a lot of these whales close to each other which began a communication amongst the pods as tail lobs and tail slapping erupted throughout the bay. It was exciting to see two enormous males surface right alongside us in a boisterous mood as they swam around the Whale Watch 1 with much interest. The boys regrouped and began pushing further into the bay in search of any lovely female Humpback Whales that they could find and introduce themselves. A further pod was resting in the shallows of the bay to make the most of the peaceful location as the hustle and bustle of the Humpback migration passed further away.
