Whale watching in Flinders Bay Augusta today was extraordinary as we witnessed a competition pod formation as pods went from relaxed pace to full intensity. Two approaching males caused breaching and tail bobbing as we watched tennis style whale watching, breach to the left, breach to the right! The Language of the Whales™ demonstrated in the most spectacular fashion as this surface activity showed us males doing their very best to show their superior power towards the other males. Racing towards the female each male jostled for position close to her and tried their best to prevent the male next to them getting the upper hand.
One fantastic tactic they used was to charge towards our bow at full speed and then cheekily push each other straight at us! The male on the outer edge realised that he was getting pushed towards us and his only option was to flip… completely upside down! His enormous fluke and peduncle muscle swayed in the breeze as he used all of his abdominals to keep control of his movement and still managed to make everything look smooth in an uncontrolled moment of the competition pod. Needless to say we were all completely stunned as we continued to watch the pod swirl and chase around our vessel and this is a wonderful example as to why we love whale watching in Flinders Bay Augusta.
Leaving the competition pod to continue as they charged around the most south western point of our coastline we headed back towards the beautiful coastline and sighted half a dozen hazy blows in the sunset. One of these blows was very small.. a little bit too small and not a blow from a usual adult or juvenile whale. Then he popped his little bumpy rostrum above the surface to say hello and their was our little Sunny Flynn, seeming pleased to see us as mum travelled over for a quick hello. There were three whales in this pod as Sunny and mum had the company of a large male escort who was doing a good job of keeping a protective and watchful eye over mother and calf. He may only stay for a few more hours but during that time will do his best to impress the female by actively protecting her and calf from other males and any possible threat such as shark or Orca.
