It was Whale Watch Education Tours today as our family team interpreted the Language of the Whales for our guests onboard. The morning tour started with enormous breaching by a beautiful mother Humpback and her calf, what made them special was that both mother and calf had completely white pectorals that glimmered beneath the surface of the ocean.
They soon settled and a calm came across the Gage Roads and it wasn’t longe before we saw the energy of another competition pod barreling through the area which explained the quick drop off of surface language.
Eight whales in a bachelor pod were combating and rolling around the vessel with high energy as they pursued a female, thankfully without a calf. The morning tour also saw an incredible sight of a mother tail sailing as her calf relaxed close by, this scene is rarely witnessed in the colder waters south of the Kimberlys as the Humpbacks will use thermo-regulation to control body heat, more suited to the warmer north west waters so a real treat for our guests today to understand another incredible element of these majestic creatures.
The afternoon tour was full of energy and excitement as 8 Humpback males pursued a female with incredible energy as they ran into an escort pod with the female and calf, letting the boys know they were not too happy. The escort of the female did a great job but it was Mum that got the flukes working with enormous tail slaps and tail hammers to assert her dominance, she was a lot bigger than the males and she soon had them under control. The 8 Humpbacks pursuers turned into 6 and we spent the rest of the tour with them in the shallower waters of Stragglers Bank darting around and under the vessel.
Beautiful spring weather made the days tours very special and our new rooftop platform allowed Captains Lounge guests and incredible view of the action and Language of the Whales.
As one happy guest commented, ’This isn’t just Whale Watching, it’s an education I never knew existed’ which was very humbling for our team.