The whales have arrived in Augusta and we have started Season 2017 with our first sighting of six beautiful juvenile Humpback males sighted today! Two separate pods joined together and we watched as they interacted and practiced boisterous juvenile behaviour with much pushing and chasing close to the waters surface leaving behind many whale footprints.
We are very excited to see such healthy young whales arriving in Flinders Bay and looking forward to seeing what we will discover as more whales arrive. Today in the Augusta Boat Harbour after our tour we heard a commotion and looked outside to see our two favourite local Bottlenose Dolphins very happy with themselves as they had just caught a huge flathead fish for dinner! To our amazement the mother Dolphin swam straight over to our vessel and showed off her prized catch only one meter from the boat while making direct eye contact with us, what an amazing moment it was.
Today was Whale Watch Western Australia’s inaugural tour from Fremantle and has been put down on record as our most wonderful tour to date! On our departure our very first sighting was of a happy pod of Bottlenose Dolphins who came right up to our bow to have a good look and following the dolphins was a very large sea lion who was hoping the dolphins would lead him to an easy breakfast. After spending a bit of time with this happy and unique marine mammal combination we continued on our search for the Dinosaurs Of The Deep… and little did we know about the surprise that waited ahead!
Further out in the distance we sighted the unmistakably tall blow of a mammal that is one of the largest living creatures on our planet, the Pygmy Blue Whale. Approaching the area of our last sighting we watched and waited carefully before seeing once again the massive “whoosh” as an exhalation of air raced six meters into the sky and a massive submarine like movement appeared breaking the surface and showing us the mottled blue body of an amazing Pygmy Blue Whale. Stunned to say the least! What an amazing moment and to our great delight we soon discovered that this was not one but three Pygmy Blues, a mother, her calf and a male escort.
All three calmly moved through the protected waters and it is an incredibly rare and special opportunity to see and be with a mother and calf Pygmy Blue with a protective male escort. While we watched them cruise out into the Indian Ocean just up ahead we noticed the very familiar arch of a surfacing Humpback and the resulting tail dive that follows. Two very young juvenile Humpback whales were enjoying some rest time and although it looked like they had both left their mothers only recently they showed some very cheeky and curious behaviours towards us.
After an amazing tour and a list full of special sightings we also enjoyed seeing a few non marine mammal things on our way back to the marina. An Australian navy submarine was a very special sight and made us all laugh when we wondered were it had disappeared to while we were busy watching the whales before remembering… it is a submarine after all! Australian Navy ship HMAS Arunta was also out on this magic morning and what a special day to begin a wonderful season ahead.
Today we had sunshine and rain to explore Geographe Bay in and a few more Humpbacks around including a gorgeous juvenile individual who had very unique markings and an all black tummy! We first sighted him on this mornings tour with five other Humpbacks in a very relaxed social group but by the time we sighted him again on the afternoon tour he had decided to leave the bigger pod and head off on his own adventure.
He was cruising through the bay and we had a fantastic look at him when he breached a couple of times completely clear of the water below… amazing! Most Humpback whales in the southern hemisphere tend to have big white bellies and dark grey to black backs with their northern hemisphere cousins more solid in colour, very similar colouration to the young individual we sighted today. However, having the largest Humpback population in the world here in Western Australia we are very lucky to see a wide variety of unique markings and colour on our Humpback whales.
The local Bottlenose Dolphin pod visited us twice today and they are always so much fun to spend some time with and seem to love coming right up close to the bow twisting and turning so they can get a better look at everyone.
ID Log
Date – 24.9.16
Species – Humpback
Lat – 33 . 28. 96 Long – 115 . 20 . 19
Notes – Juvenile who was sighted on morning tour with pod, re-sighted on afternoon alone
Bonito Tuna were the first sighting today as they dashed around the surface chasing smaller baitfish creating a lot of activity on the waters surface that certainly caught the attention of Crested Terns. Soon after a Bottlenose Dolphin pod were sighted calmly moving through the area and a pleasant surprise as we re-sighted the same Humpbacks from yesterdays tour!
Instantly recognising the unique patterns on the flank of the young juvenile it was nice to see he still had his friends around including the big female that popped up out of the blue yesterday. Their curiosity was still strong as usual and they seemed to enjoy swimming under and around our vessel unnoticed below before surfacing a few meters away. With a bit of bad weather expected over the next couple of days it was a perfect day to end this week on and by Saturday the weather will allow Geographe Bay to be suitable for exploring once again.
ID Log
Date – 14.9.16
Species – Humpback
Lat – 33 . 28. 69 Long – 115 . 11 . 64
Notes – Same pod as sighted yesterday, ID of larger female
Guess who was back again? The wonderful Minke whale that we sighted exactly one week ago! What first caught our attention was two juvenile Humpback whales who were pec and tail slapping in the distance and once we arrived we soon found out why. This cheeky Minke whale was interacting with the Humpback whales and as soon as we arrived he focused his attention on us, circling around our vessel for one hour! The juvenile Humpbacks seemed a bit jealous that the Minke was getting all of the attention so they too came over to our vessel to say hello and it was amazing.
Having both whale species coming in so close to our bow and showing fascination with our vessel and all of our guests onboard was incredibly special. Another big surprise was a big female Humpback surfacing with the two younger juvenile whales a bit later on in our interaction… we were so focused on our Minke friend that we didn’t notice her approach! Since Geographe Bay has lower Humpback numbers at the moment the whales that are in the bay are looking for a bit of protection while they wait for a few more Humpbacks to arrive. The two juveniles sighted today are the same two that were sighted on Sunday so we can see that they are certainly waiting in the protection of Geographe Bay longer than usual… not that we mind.
ID Log
Date – 13.9.16
Species – Minke
Lat – 33 . 30. 59 Long – 115 . 15 . 29
Notes – One individual who was interacting with Humpbacks and our vessel for one hour
After a very quiet start to the morning we met two juvenile Humpback whales who had teamed up as pod of two for better protection and company until a few more Humpbacks arrive in Geographe Bay. They were both very curious and popped up right on our bow to say hello to everyone and check things out. They will be waiting on the arrival of more Humpbacks before continuing their journey south to the Antarctic feeding grounds.
Although this friendship won’t last forever younger Humpbacks will often seek out company and protection from another juvenile of a similar age and size while on their migration path. They could spend the next few hours or days together hanging out until they are ready to leave the protection of Geographe Bay and begin the journey south once again.
Really lovely to see these two close up and notice all of the usual markings and scars found on juvenile whale as like all teenagers there is a bit more rough and tumble as they continue to grow and find their place amongst the older Humpbacks and general business of life in the open ocean! A mother and calf Bottlenose Dolphin also greeted us on our departure and arrival back at the marina and seemed to be enjoying a Sunday filled with plenty of sunshine☀️
ID Log
Date – 11.9.16
Species – Humpback
Lat – 33 . 31. 54 Long – 115 . 14 . 05
Notes – Two young juveniles, very curious towards vessel, ID of smaller individual
