Why do Whales breach? The reason why Humpback Whales breach is to communicate with other whales around them, it is part of the spectacular Language of the Whales. Breaching can be social or dominant and needs to be interpreted at the time to understand what the whales are communicating in that conversation. Our morning tour firstly observed sleepy mums and calves making the most of the peaceful conditions to catchup on some snooze time. Further ahead we had many bachelor boys rumbling through and as they began to form into a very large and social pod we joined with them as they began to move through as one. Two of the males broke away and decided we were more interesting than the other males as they came right over and we were soon surrounded by these two immensely curious whales. Spy hops and a full 360 degree investigation of the Steep Point was necessary as they swam around and around before it was time to head off and the youngest male showed off with some spectacular tail lobs right off our stern.
The afternoon was focused around the mums and bubs as they had woken up from their morning sleep and were now busy communicating and practicing the Language of the Whales. Breaching, pec slapping, tail lobs and head lunges erupted all around as the ocean came alive with the Language of the Whales. It was remarkable to watch multiple pods all in conversation at once with even more whales calling out on the horizon. It is certainly a fantastic time of the season with hundreds of whales moving past Rottnest Island everyday over the coming weeks. The calves are at an age group where they are immensely curious and even today we watched as the young male calf head lunged alongside us with eyes wide open looking back our way. Humpback Whales have good eyesight and do love to look back at everyone looking at them, they most certainly are the stars of the show and seem to know it even from a young age!
