Tag: Perth

The Humpback highway at Rottnest Island was peak hour today as dozens of Humpbacks communicated The Language of the Whales™ with spectacular surface activity as everywhere from our bow to the horizon was surrounded by breaching! Beginning our journey with a mature female, calf and escort we enjoyed our time with them before the breaching began straight ahead and the horizon filled with white water created by tonnes of weight hitting the surface. Approaching one of the pods we met the most fantastic calf who was the star of the Humpback highway as he breached and showed off his aerodynamics. He was communicating to an approaching mother and calf pod who also responded occasionally with a breach of their own until eventually both pods joined together.

Although they had now joined together it didn’t stop this young male calf from continuing his breaching, spurred on by the surface activity further ahead, to the left and to the right as we were completely surrounded by Humpback Whales. A pod of adults straight ahead seemed to capture the focus of this energetic calf and he beelined straight towards them with continuos breaching. The adults were focused amongst themselves though with big pectoral fin slapping as a female flirted with two adult males. The breaching calf, mum and male escort continued moving towards the adults and their companion pod of mother and calf decided that was a bit too much activity happening ahead so departed with a few peduncle slaps as mum taught her calf how to protect your space. A truly remarkable day out on the Humpback highway and what a privilege to spend time with our superstars!

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Today we met an Orca ( Killer Whale ) attack survivor and his scars told us a bit about his incredible survival story. Looking carefully at the right tip of his fluke you can easily notice how it has been worn down by the teeth of the Orca and distinctive rake marks have been left behind. Again on his dorsal fin we notice the same rake marks where the Orca ( Killer Whales ) have tried to hold onto this young Humpback and incredibly he fought his way free and is now a healthy and happy sub adult. Approaching our vessel with great curiosity he surfaced right behind us and again to our port side as he came in incredibly close to investigate. It always amazes us to see the resilience of these young Humpback Whales and even after a close call in his earlier years it did not stop this young whale from approaching us to say hello with confidence, what a fantastic personality!

Two mother and calf pods in the distance captured our attention as Humpback Whales leapt skywards as one of the pods came too close towards the other. The dominant female began to breach with her calf and male escort quickly following her lead. The younger female who was travelling with a younger calf also responded with some breaching of their own but respectfully left the area to the more mature adults. We joined up with this young mum and her beautifully light grey calf as we watched mum lead her calf into a quite area away from the others before continuing to feed her calf and rest. Our final pod for the morning was another young survivor, this time it was an unfortunate interaction with propellors which had left behind a small but noticeable propeller strike scarring just below the left dorsal. Again, this young whale did not seem to hold a nervousness around vessels retained from this previous propeller encounter, in fact she responded towards us with friendly pectoral fin slapping showing off her beautiful white flashy pecs. These two survivors have a long life ahead of them!

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Tall exhalations filled the horizon followed with wild splashes and movement, we had a competition pod in October! Approaching a pod of twelve Humpback Whales we watched in amazement as they charged towards Rottnest Island chasing a female, this Language of the Whales™ we sight during the northern migration in June and July so it was a wonderful surprise and very special to be sighting this type of pod so late in the season. The males had rostrums rubbed raw from the close contact and 45 tonnes pushing up against each other, after a long season many of the wounds obtained from this breeding and competition pod season are still trying to heal. Two of the males had old entanglement scarring but it was fantastic to see that it wasn’t slowing them down at all as they raced after the female in a highly energetic and intense heat run with all twelve Humpbacks trying their hardest.

At one point we gasped in amazement as one of the males positioned himself onto the back of another trying to prevent him from surfacing, the male below lifted himself and 45 tonnes from the other male clear of the ocean below in an incredible display of strength. The fitness levels of these males are truly remarkable, this is the tail end of the season with almost all of their fat reserves depleted and bodies would certainly be sore. However, the lure of an available female pushed these males back into that competitive spirit and we watched with much admiration as the males jostled to get as close to the female as possible and take over as her primary escort. The backdrop of Rottnest Island and the Perth skyline highlighted how fortunate we are to live in a part of the Western Australian coastline which is so important to our Humpback Whales. The female moved straight towards, underneath and around our vessel on a number of occasions to try slowing the males down and it worked momentarily before they increased speed once again. Two of the younger males did eventually depart, seeming tired and with their departure came a slight calm over the competition pod and we decided to leave them at this point and wish them all well for the rest of their migration.

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Fremantle whale watching was alive with activity today as our Humpback Whales enjoyed the beautiful conditions and calves were at play. Our first encounter was with a mother, calf and male escort all travelling together and the calf appeared to be hassling mum for more milk by rolling in front of her and attempting to position on top of her blowhole… calves can be very cheeky! Distant breaching caused the young calf to respond with a breach of her own as they moved towards a resting ground amongst the tankers. Leaving them to continue their morning it wasn’t long before we were surrounded by Humpback Whales as one pod moved left and the other moved right while at the same time the calves were communicating with surface activity towards each other.

Recognising the cow and calf from yesterday (Mr. Breach) we watched with great interest as the females escort performed two peduncle slaps and then was instantly followed by Mr. Breach who continued to peduncle slap for the next twenty minutes! He was communicating to a second mother and calf pod who had joined up with us and were swimming right alongside our vessel. Moving in incredibly close the female was teaching her calf how to use our sound footprint as a great disguise when approaching another pod of whales. The calf seemed to enjoy the opportunity to get to know us and came closer and closer as we moved together as one. A very special day out on the water enjoying Fremantle whale watching with perfect conditions and spectacular Humpback Whales.

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Enjoying every moment of Perth’s best whale watching today as a Humpback calf breached over 30 times over a 2.5 kilometre long distance! First sighting the Language of the Whales™ in the distance we could see the young calf breaching repeatedly towards a second pod and as we made a gentle approach he continued to breach directly towards us. The second pod seemed surprised at this little Humpbacks confidence and as he breached towards them they moved towards us until all six whales surrounded our vessel. This didn’t stop the little one from breaching and he continued to launch himself into the sky right alongside our vessel as the second pod made a quick move underneath us and away from Mr. Confidence! The calf was very relaxed as he not only had his protective mum and her escort by his side but over a dozen other Humpback Whales in the general area creating a busy but safe environment for this calf to practice the Language of the Whales™ with great persistence.

The calf then continued to travel towards a yearling Humpback further ahead and it wasn’t long before they had all joined together and these four whales continued to move towards Rottnest Island while we lost count of breach after breach after breach. After a 2.5 kilometre journey of non stop breaching, understandably this little calf needed a feed so we left him to enjoy a mid morning snack as we met another mother and her calf quietly resting close by. The breaching hadn’t finished though and as we made our way back towards Fremantle we could see all of that earlier communication had attracted many other Humpback Whales to the area with two large males on the lookout for any available female. Counting twelve Humpback Whales all congregating towards the same area we were once again surrounded by Humpbacks and Mr. Confidence beginning his spectacular breaching once again… Perth’s best whale watching at its most exciting on this mornings journey!

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A spectacular moment today as a mother Humpback Whale launched 40+ tonnes skyward right next to our vessel as we watched an incredible breach! She then swam directly towards our bow with her calf, showing off her little one to everyone onboard as we watched in awe the size difference between mother and calf. Mum weighing in at forty thousand kilograms and baby closer to four thousand kilograms, the size difference may be enormous but the female is still able to precisely land after her breach without any chance of harming her calf. The little one will also quickly Learn the Language of the Whales™ through mums surface activity and how to perform a perfectly executed breach.

The second pod we interacted with this morning did not have a calf following along, instead these two large adults were enjoying some relax time together as an escort pod. One of the individuals was so white that his entire body glowed below the waters surface as he swam along. It was easy to track the movements of this particular Humpback Whale who cruised just below the surface as the sunlight reflected off of his white body. Breaking the surface we could see that along his back remained the grey racing stripe from tip of the rostrum to tip of the fluke, but everything to the sides and downwards was glowing white, a beautiful whale that will be easy to identify in future seasons.

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The baby Whales of Western Australia are starting to make their way south on their first ever migration towards Antarctica. This exciting adventure is filled with wonders along the way for these young baby Whales and people watching is one of the fascinating new things they can enjoy! Today a beautiful calf decided to come in for a closer look after having a morning feed from mum. We could hear the loud “whoosh” just to our starboard side and as we looked over he was snuggled up right alongside us, so close we were counting the barnacles all over his little body. Mum was very relaxed and allowed her calf to investigate us at very close quarters as we watched on with much adoration towards this beautiful calf whom was showing much curiosity towards our vessel and everyone onboard.

Now that he had introduced himself it was time to play and this involved some small tail lobs, inverted fluke slapping and even a few pec slaps. Rolling and twisting his body around mum we could see how patient she was with her energetic calf and ever watchful over her little one. One behaviour we noticed was how each time mum would perform a round out dive she would carefully lift her fluke clear of the surface and of course baby Whale would follow and mimic exactly what mum was doing. The only problem is when you are putting on around 50kg of weight per day and roughly 3cm in size your body is not always very well coordinated! The tail dive was almost perfect, just a little wobbly at times for this lovely calf who enjoyed flicking that fluke up high and catching the breeze as he went.

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Today we had a meeting with an old friend at Rottnest Island… but we didn’t know this meeting would be in place until we spied each other in the crowd! A very special whale whom we sighted last year who has only half of his left pectoral fin remaining left a big impression on us and today we jumped with joy to see this wonderful whale once again as that unmistakable pectoral broke the surface. He certainly recognised us before we remembered him as his social interaction with another whale paused briefly as he raced straight over towards us and once his pectoral broke the surface we instantly knew who he was, our dear old friend who we had not seen in over a year! It is always a joyous occasion to meet any whale but when we have built a friendship with such a special whale over a year ago and meeting again today it felt like nothing had changed, how wonderful is that! Our magnificent whales always bring so much joy to our lives and we couldn’t be happier to see our dear friend looking well and living the Humpback life socialising and frolicking just off Rottnest Island.

It was fascinating to watch as he enjoyed practicing duelling flukes with his buddy just off our bow, exactly the same behaviour we sighted from him on the 18th of September last season. A mother and her calf along with a juvenile Humpback Whale were also joining in the conversation as we watched a perfect example of the Language of the Whales™ as each pod communicated towards each other with spectacular surface activity. A very special day that even had the local Bottlenose Dolphins coming over to check things out while we enjoyed every moment catching up with our old mate at the local hangout near Rottnest Island, how good it was to see him again!

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A tiny Humpback Calf decided to come over and investigate us this morning as he travelled along with his mum and decided some people watching was a great way to spend their Friday morning! Mum also had some company with her as we noticed a young sub adult Humpback travelling with her and appeared to be trying to act as an escort. Still very young, this cheeky juvenile performed a couple of impressive peduncle slaps and was closely tagging along with mother and calf. The energy from mum was very relaxed as the large female moved towards us and swam directly towards our bow while bringing baby along with her. The Humpback Calf loved the opportunity to sit on mums back as she gently approached us so both could get a better look, much to our delight and enjoyment.

The juvenile also approached and it was a special moment to have all three curiously investigating us, most focused was certainly the young calf who appeared mesmerised by the vessel. After a little while it was back on the move again as mum carefully journeyed towards a sheltered part of the coast to relax and enjoy the approaching weekend. The mother and calf slowed at one stage with the surface activity and down time indicating he was having a feed from mum. Consuming up to 360 litres of milk each day it is incredible to imagine that quantity multiplied over days and weeks, the sustenance being provided by mum allowing this calf to grow and prosper through out the next 12 months.

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A beautiful day greeted us as we departed Sardine Jetty and made our way towards two large adult Humpback Whales enjoying some rest after such a long migration. The male was covered with plenty of scarring showing us he has had a few competitive battles during his lifetime, the female was much cleaner and a little bit larger with both showing interest towards us. Spending time with them created a trust and when vessel traffic began to move past on their way to Rottnest Island the two both swam directly towards us and kept close, trying to hide in our sound footprint until the traffic went away. They seemed very relaxed with our company and we decided to let them continue their morning relax as we made our way towards some surface activity before a small Hammerhead Shark was sighted briefly on the surface, although small he still won’t be making friends with the whales anytime soon!

The two juveniles who had been communicating towards each other appeared to be warding off the small Hammerhead Shark and also telling each other they weren’t interested in joining up but rather minding their own business. One of the individuals who had a big white belly extending up his flanks moved over towards us to investigate instead and surfaced right on our stern for a better look. Continuing to cruise along he would spend a fair bit of time at the surface watching us and wondering what we were doing on such a fine day, the curious mind of a juvenile Humpback Whale is always wonderful to spend time with. Moving through the same area where the juvenile Hammerhead Shark had been sighted and our curious juvenile Humpback launched into an amazing peduncle slap and seemed startled momentarily… maybe he had been seeing shadows and wanted to get rid of the visiting shark for good so he could relax and enjoy the lovely morning without fishy company. A lovely cruise back towards Sardine Jetty as we took in the sights of the busy Port of Fremantle.

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The Humpback Whales at Cottesloe Beach were communication The Language of the Whales™ today with breaching, tail lobs and high energy all around. A mother, calf and her male escort had caught the attention of two nearby males and the chase had begun. The mother and her calf raced towards us and dived below our bow to try and deter the following males who still keenly followed. The two bachelor males sent their energy right through the surrounding coastline and nearby mother and calf pods responded with breaching and head lunging, do not come over this way they were saying! Noticing a couple of the local Bottlenose Dolphins cruise past our bow and approach further Humpback Whales at Cottesloe Beach we decided to follow and it wasn’t long before the friendly Bottlenose Dolphins had met a young juvenile Humpback and they began to socialise together.

The juvenile Humpback seemed oblivious to the fact that the Dolphins were leading him straight towards us where he finally noticed us only a few meters in front of the bow as he slowed to check hinge out. Circling towards our stern he lifted his flukes high above the surface and slapped them back down a couple of times, two more adults were approaching! These two large adults took over the situation and the area which they now regarded as their own, poor Mr. Juvenile now had to watch us from afar as these two larger whales had a good look at us. Suddenly on their next resurfacing the large male launched himself into an incredible tail lob right alongside our vessel, he was letting everyone know including us that this was his female. The mother,calf and male escort had by this time moved further back towards us and now that the two following males had changed their focus the calf gained some confidence from the male escort who had also tail lobbed a little earlier and tried his very own tail lob and tail slapping…how quickly they Learn the Language of the Whales™!

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In the shadows of Hillarys Boat Harbour we had a magnificent morning with the whales of Western Australia as the first Humpback calves of our southern migration were sighted with much excitement and surprise! Arriving slightly earlier than in previous seasons, these two little ones were sighted happily swimming alongside their mums and enjoying the beautiful day we were whale watching Hillarys. Our first interaction was with two large adults travelling in an escort pod who seemed interested in everything happening around them and showed off a perfect double fluke dive. The first mother and calf pod were then sighted with baby playing with a couple of the local Bottlenose Dolphins. The young Dolphin calf was breaching and fluke slapping towards the Humpback calf… very protective of his mum and a wonderful example of the Language of the Whales™ from these babies!

Mum then began to make her way towards us so both could have a good look at everyone, it was then that we noticed yet another mother and calf pod just to our right who were also making an approach. Seeming to be taking turns in checking out the boat each pod had a good look before continuing to return back to their morning of resting and feeding in the sheltered waters. A breach launching skyward was seen to our left as a young juvenile female caught our attention along with her travel buddy. Unfortunately for this young lady we could see her dorsal fin was missing and on closer inspection we could rule out Orca attack due to her fluke being very clean and also no obvious rake teeth marks. It appears that this young Humpback Whale may have survived an entanglement with familiar rope scarring and even some sunburn scars along her back. Thankfully, she was in good spirits and seemed very healthy with her scarring appearing to be older and we hope to re-sight her in future season when whale watching Hillarys.

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