Pygmy Blue Whale Archives - Whale Watch Western Australia

The Perth Canyon was shining once again on yet another magnificent day and Australasian Gannets escorted us towards the continental shelf where our search began for the hazy distant blow of the Blue. Searching carefully we could see the occasional tiny Wilsons Storm Petrel looking for a morsel on the surface and a Gannet scanning carefully above us. Straight ahead and just like a rocket the powerful seven meter blow of a Blue Whale raced skyward and could be easily seen, off we went! A very relaxed and young Blue greeted us on our arrival in the area and seemed to be resting in-between downtimes with little movement from the original sighting area. Everyone jumped when she resurfaced a short distance behind us and she almost seemed pleased to have caught us all unaware as the turquoise blue shine showed a perfect example of how they coined their name.

The bird activity started to increase slightly as we moved further along the Perth Canyon and a resting Albatross was observing the fifty or so Gannets in the area that were diving on schools of baitfish. Generally where there are fish and birds we can almost always guarantee the Dolphins won’t be too far away and sure enough the porpoising sturdy bodies of Offshore Bottlenose Dolphins raced towards us. The whole pod eventually surrounded our vessel with approximately 100 individuals seeming to enjoy a bit of social time right next to and in front of us. Amongst the Offshore Bottlenose there were also a few beautifully marked Common Dolphins with their big yellow tinged bellies who had also joined the afternoon feed of fish.

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Our journey began as we passed Rottnest Island and we could see the undeniable movements of Humpback Whales… they have arrived! A mother and her yearling calf were migrating north and it was very exciting to see the first of the Humpbacks for season 2018. Continuing towards the Perth Canyon a stampede of white water was moving towards us as 500 Striped Dolphins porpoised and breached in the distance. Surrounding our vessel with much excitement it was wonderful to see so many happy Dolphins socialising and showing of their acrobatic skills together. The hazy blow of the largest animal on planet earth caught our eye off in the distance and as we made our way towards the last sighting the magnificent rostrum of a Blue Whale broke the surface.

One of the largest individuals that we have met so far surfaced only a few meters away and the enormous exhalation filled the sky. Measuring in at approximately 25 meters long this very large Blue seemed curious as she made an adventurous approach directly towards us. Shortly after her sounding dive another individual surfaced close by and then another, but this one was different and much smaller than the first two… she was only a yearling! Slightly darker in colouration and 14 meters long she was the same size as the female Humpback that we had met earlier on in the morning and it was very special to meet a new member of the Perth Blue Whale population. A total of four Blue Whales, another two meetings with the Striped Dolphins and a cheeky Antarctic Skua topped off an already amazing day out in the Perth Canyon.

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The Blue Whale is the largest mammal to have ever graced this planet, yet so little is known about their day to day lives. The many years of extensive whaling reduced a healthy worldwide population of 300,000 Blue Whales down to as little as 2,000 individuals. The Blue whale has been protected since 1966 and although recovery of population numbers is slow, there are promising signs ahead for the endangered Australian Blue Whales. The best way to protect these magnificent whales is to learn more about them, so lets begin with some Blue Whale Facts!

Largest Animal On Earth

The Blue Whale is the largest animal to have ever existed on planet earth, how fortunate are we to have them still alive today! The reason behind why they are larger than any dinosaur is simply due to them living in a marine environment. Although dinosaurs reached similar lengths they were certainly not able to match the weight of a Blue Whale. The Blue Whale also has the benefit of having a lot of room to live in as water takes up 70% of the earths surface with most of this accounted for by the ocean. Plenty of space, less gravity and bountiful food sources allowed the gigantic Blue Whales to reach their full potential and become the largest animal ever known.

Blue Whales Really Are Blue

One of our favourite moments when watching Blue Whales is the turquoise blue that grows stronger and larger as the whales return to the surface to breath. The perfect example is below as you can see with one of our guests suitably dressed in the appropriate colours for their tour! The blue glow of these whales is how they coined their name and is one of the most beautiful sights on the planet. The big surprise is when they break the surface and their mottled grey skin appears. The large size of the Blue Whale and reflective light creates this unique iridescent turquoise blue demonstrating why these beautiful whales are called Blue Whales even though they are grey.

The Worlds Largest Grey Nomads

The Blue Whales of the world have no specific home that they live all year in, they spend their time constantly on the move towards their next feeding ground. These epic journeys take them many thousands of kilometres and from one ocean to another. The preferred feeding grounds are reached at different times of the year depending on when the krill densities are at their peak and no energy is ever wasted on unprofitable feeding grounds. Travel is a vital part of the life of a Blue Whale and during their lifetime they can travel to the moon and back again.

Biggest Babies Ever Known

The title of the worlds largest baby certainly belongs to the newborn Blue Whale calf. One of our favourite Blue Whale facts is that at birth a Blue Whale calf will be approximately eight meters long and five tonnes in weight. Gestation for a female Blue Whale is 11 to 12 months and the calf will be born tail first to avoid drowning. Newborn Blue Whales are also believed to be born in warmer waters where nursery grounds for these baby giants can be found as they are born with almost no blubber and would be easily affected by cold waters. Drinking the equivalent of 1,300 glasses of their mothers rich milk everyday (which is 40-50% fat) allows for the most incredible daily weight gain of 90 kilograms, that is around 4 kilograms per hour!

The Perth Canyon in Western Australia was overflowing with Australian Blue Whales today, we interacted with 13 individuals and had sightings of over 20 Blue Whales throughout our experience. Everywhere we looked the tall blows of Blue Whales broke the surface of perfectly calm seas and a pod of Striped Dolphins flew seven meters high into the air as they showed off their arial acrobatics. Our official record of ten Australian Blue Whales was broken today as we reached a new record of total Blue Whale interactions in one day, thirteen and we were surrounded by over twenty!

Different behaviours were sighted today with a pod of two individuals showing possible courtship behaviour as they chased each other around the Perth Canyon. Feeding was the main focus of most today as they would exchange breathe at the surface and prepare for their next sounding dive. One large Blue that we were travelling with sent cheers of joy as the massive seven meter wide fluke raised above the waters surface in the most spectacular sounding dive. Sighting the fluke of a Blue Whale is very elusive indeed and we felt fortunate today as we watched this powerful movement of a sounding Blue Whale dive.

The Striped Dolphins were putting on a big social display of tail slapping, porpoising and most incredibly seven meter high breaches! Our first sighting of them was muffled as the splashes of breaching appeared off in the distance and it first appeared to be blows from a Sperm Whale. Approaching a bit closer we could see the silvery bodies leaping meters into the air and new we had the acrobatics of the sea putting on an impressive display of social behaviour. Known for their arial acrobatics it was amazing to see full body somersaults lighting up the Perth Canyon with energy from these specially patterned oceanic dolphins. A perfect ending to what will be a day to always remember and set the mark for the most Blue Whales ever encountered in one day aboard Whale Watch Western Australia.

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The Blue Whale season began today as we departed Fremantle for our first experience for Blue Whale season 2018 with much excitement onboard! A beautiful day greeted us as we cruised past Rottnest Island and enjoyed a very special Easter Monday in the sunshine. The first to meet us was a large pod of 30+ offshore Bottlenose Dolphins who raced over to say their good mornings and enjoy some light exercise of bow riding as we all made our way to the canyon edge. We carefully scanned the horizon for the tall and distinctive blow of a giant, a breath that can easily reach seven meters or more in height. Then there it was, a cloud forming from the oceans surface as the exhalation of a Blue Whale erupted into the air… the Blues have arrived!

The powerful breaths continued as oxygen was replenished in preparation for the next sounding dive. Sighting the tail dive of a Blue Whale is not common and is generally dependant on each individual. We were surprised to see the graceful flukes of this Blue lift gently above the surface as she sounded into the Perth Canyon. The beautiful turquoise blue that we have not sighted in a long time sparkled today as she approached the surface and it is a lovely example of how the Blue Whales coined their name. Disappearing into the canyon once more we scanned the horizon and we all jumped when a group of six Common Dolphins cleared the surface in front of us! They seemed shy at first but it wasn’t long before they were dancing around our bow, but one thing did seem strange though as there was only six dolphins.

Common Dolphins are renowned for travelling in super pods of 1,000 or more individuals so only six seemed a bit odd. We enjoyed their company and kept a close eye open for any other pod members and could see some slight movement ahead in the distance. The energy level changed from the six who had been travelling with us as a message was sent out and they took off! Racing at over 30 kilometres per hour, we watched in awe as they propelled themselves clear of the ocean bellow in full bodied porpoising as they raced to meet the rest of their pod. Once they had rejoined we could count approximately 100 individuals, now that is a more common amount of individuals in a Common Dolphin pod!

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Whale Watching in Perth each year is very exciting as the Humpback Mother’s are returning with their calves from the North of the State. Many have come from Camden Sound, high up in the Kimberly’s where they have given birth to their new born calves. After many weeks of feeding and nurturing we start to see the calves getting taught by Mum the characteristics and behaviours they are going to need to survive and thrive in the Western Australian and Antarctica Oceans. These behaviours we call the ‘Language of the Whales’. When they are in the metropolitan waters all vessel operators must be aware of the rules to view these Dinosaurs of the Deep and pay the respect such wondrous creatures deserve. Please if you are on the water do not approach from 60 degrees tail or head of the Whales and not within 150 mtrs. Your driving should not exceed 5 knots however if the Whales approach you, take your vessel out of gear and enjoy the interaction, you will never forget the experience. Please do not make aggressive gear changes or chase or herd the Whale’s. Should they be tail slapping or breaching close to you it is a clear sign that you are too close and to back off, remember these are Mother’s with calves and they need to be respected.

Our Father has spent many years in the water as a pearl diver and the main thing he learn’t underwater was survival and how closely linked the efficiency of energy is related to that very survival. Please consider a Mother Humpback Whale has travelled approx 13,000 klm’s, given birth to her calf, nurtured them and fed them through half of that journey and then protected and taught them the behaviours they need to survive…. all of this generally without eating for 6 months! Should we as humans go into their environment and then harass or cause them to expel unnecessary energies, it can be the difference between survival or not for the calf or even the Mother. Whale Watching in Perth is a wonderful opportunity to ID new born’s and to see the maternal behaviours unfold before your very eyes but do please show the respect and report any unruly behaviour to DPAW (take the vessel’s number).

Above is a diagram to show where is suitable and where is no go zones if you see Whales in the water around you. Please do not approach closely at speed and try to create a gentle footprint whereby you actually at times will become part of the Pod. This can be determined if they carry on the behaviours when first sighted, they are oblivious to you and have no need to change their attitude, this is the true Whale Watch where you can watch them and they can watch you without hesitation. Whales are very inquisitive creatures and if you treat them correctly they will reward you 1,000 fold however when they are in Perth waters returning back to Antarctica with calves please be respectful.

Three Blue Whales alongside our vessel had everyone onboard stunned! A mother Blue kept her calf close to our vessel so she could block the approach of a larger Blue from getting too close. Adding to the moment was amazing bubble veils as she tried to hide her calf behind an underwater screen of bubbles and this behaviour has never before been sighted by Whale Watch Western Australia with Pygmy Blue Whales, but many times sighted with our interactions amongst Humpbacks. The intelligence of these magnificent mammals was on show as the female used our vessel to her advantage to block the approach of the much larger individual who was most likely a curious male, showing that she actually trusted us more than she trusted the other Blue Whale!

It is well noted that Pygmy Blue Whales rarely lift their flukes when diving and you can imagine why everyone onboard was stunned as the younger individual raised his enormous flukes clear of the water below and gracefully dived! Not only did this happen once but several times throughout the day which had us all mesmerized and very grateful to have seen such a beautiful moment of a Blue Whales life. The interaction between the three individuals was very interesting to watch as they showed a social pattern of movement and surface activity rather than all energy focused on feeding. We also sighted two other individuals who were much more focused on feeding close by which had all five Blue Whales sighted on Saturday enjoying perfect conditions in the Perth Canyon.

Bottlenose Dolphins, Australasian Gannets, Wilsons Storm Petrels, Flesh Footed Shearwaters and a beautiful Yellow Nosed Albatross completed an incredible day, but perhaps the most exciting discovery was of the young calf who is just about ready to leave mum and begin his own journey traversing the oceans along local and international coastlines. A new beginning for the little one and a new addition to the Blue Whale population is inspiring to see and we hope that the opportunity arises in the near future to see those beautiful familiar flukes once more

Another fantastic day of exploration and discovery in the magnificent Perth Canyon! We had the privilege of meeting another two hungry Blue Whales as they filled their bellies full of krill hidden hundreds of kilometres underneath us. Our first meeting was with a younger individual who kept a very fast paced tempo whilst feeding and had the most beautiful mottled pattern along his flanks. Shortly afterwards another magnificent Blue was sighted and this individual was substantially bigger.

Perhaps he was not as voraciously hungry as his younger neighbour or maybe he was enjoying a casual Saturday morning brunch, but this Blue decided to take a few moments in-between dives to venture over and slowly check us all out and wonder why we weren’t joining in with the krill extravaganza below! This allowed the perfect opportunity to see and hear the size of this incredible mammal as he passed by, the exhalation of air from his car sized lungs sounded like a rocket and the glow of his beautiful skin below the surface lit up the ocean with blue, a perfect example of how these wonderful whales got their name.

Fantastic interactions with a family pod of cow/calf Common Dolphins, a quick sighting of 8-10 juvenile Sunfish basking on the surface, interactive pod of 30+ Bottlenose Dolphins and many beautiful Seabirds added to our fantastic day out in the Perth Canyon. One lucky guest captured the fleeting moment a small Blue Shark leapt into the air and landed with a big splash after missing his intended target, a perfect example why always keeping a close lookout has its benefits!

The Saturday morning Perth Canyon cafe was busy today with nine Blue Whales feeding! That is nine of the largest animals to have ever graced our planet surrounding us and to say we were excited is a huge understatement. The first two sightings were younger individuals and while one disappeared into the depths below to have his morning snack the other would surface close by to replenish his oxygen levels. The efficiency and timing of their surfacing behaviour certainly looked like they were working together as a team to keep those krill from dispersing too much during their surface time.

Another giant six meter blow was sighted 100 meters away shortly followed by yet another… and another…and another! We had arrived where the krill were located this morning and all nine Blue Whales within the area were having a feast of thousandths of kilos of the finest krill to be found. One of the larger individuals sighted today also provided the opportunity for some further Blue Whale poo collecting which is a fantastic opportunity rarely seen during migration but a natural part of what happens in the feeding grounds.

Also sighted on our expedition today was a very enthusiastic pod of 10+ Common Dolphins, Wilsons Storm Petrels, Flesh Footed Shearwaters, Australasian Gannets, Mother and calf Bottlenose Dolphin, small Hammerhead Shark and a Green Sea Turtle. A massive bait ball had attracted the attention of 50-100 birds that were diving from great heights into the ocean to capture a meal of fresh baitfish resulting in some very impressive flying by some of the Australasian Gannets as they hit the waters surface at approximately 100kph.

Watching three Blue Whales feeding in the magnificent environment of the Perth Canyon on a picture perfect Saturday is what dreams are made of! Today was a special day for our guests onboard as we departed and made our way out towards the Perth Canyon for a day of exploration and we were certainly in for (three) very big surprises. Our first sighting was of a very friendly pod of 10-15 Bottlenose Dolphins including a few young calves who seemed very curious about towards onboard.

Further along our journey a large bait ball had caught the focused attention of some Flesh Footed Shearwaters who were diving into the water head first trying to capture a tiny silver morsal for breakfast. Another pod of Bottlenose Dolphins had also been attracted to the area and after saying a quick hello to us continued busily working to keep the bait ball close to the surface, much to the delight of the Shearwaters! Our arrival in the Perth Canyon had everyone onboard carefully scanning and patiently waiting for that unmistakable exhalation of the magnificent Pygmy Blue Whales.

Whoosh! Our very first sighting was of a 6 meter high blow that belonged to a large 18-20 meter individual who had just surfaced from a feeding dive. Absolutely gigantic in size we had a good comparison as he moved past a local fisherman in a small dinghy and made us all feel very small indeed. After replenishing his oxygen levels we then watched as he disappeared into the blue with a very calm sounding dive to return to a depth of about 200 meters and continue dining on Perth’s finest krill. Only moments later we sight another tall blow, this time from a smaller individual of around 10-14 meters… we had two blues! For the next two hours we watched as one would dive to continue feeding while the other would surface and replenish oxygen levels as we kept busy tracking downtimes and collecting photo identification. During the last 30 minutes another Blue Whale joined in on the feeding activity and we soon learnt being surrounded by three feeding Blue Whales makes you smile… a lot!

The larger Blue during one of his ascents had relieved himself and left behind to our amazement a large quantity of fantastically coloured whale poo! Due to their love of krill the resulting whale poo is a very bright orange colour thanks to the exoskeletons of the krill and fertilises the oceans that they live in and visit. A wonderful opportunity to collect a sample which we managed to successfully achieve and will be passing this onto our research team. A fantastic day with sightings of Bridled Terns, Wilsons Storm Petrels, Flesh Footed Shearwaters and Juvenile Australasian Gannets adding to the fun of our exploration of this beautiful and vitally important part of our West Australian coastline.

Hearing the name Pygmy Blue Whale often creates thoughts of a miniature whale that traverses the oceans without ever being seen… but only part of that sentence is true! The Pygmy Blue Whale grows up to 24 meters in length and can weigh 90 tonnes making it clear that they are not miniature whales by any standard and although they are large in size their migration patterns and movement through our oceans has allowed these mammals to be one of the most rarely sighted species of whales on the planet.

The Pygmy Blue Whale was discovered as a separate species of whale in 1966 and their history goes back to over 20,000 years ago when a small population was separated by enormous quantities of glacial ice. The situation most likely causing many Blue Whales to have migrated north with the remaining Blue Whales and smaller gene pool that was left behind creating a separate species over time. The Pygmy Blue Whale is a sub-species of the Blue Whale and because of this they share many characteristics and look very similar, however there are a few different physical traits that we can notice when looking carefully.

Overall body shape of a tadpole with larger head and smaller tapering tail/fluke
Broader baleen plates that are also shorter due to their larger head size
When compared to a Blue Whale of the same size a Pygmy Blue is heavier in weight
Appearance of an aquamarine submarine when surfacing due to their lighter shade of grey in comparison with Blue Whales

Pygmy Blues are baleen whales and their main source of food is krill which they will travel thousands of kilometres to reach suitable feeding grounds with high densities of this favoured food source. A large appetite and their enormous size means eating up to 150 tonnes of krill a day is completely normal for a Pygmy Blue Whale! One of only three known feeding grounds that produce enough quantities of krill to feed these mammoth mammals is located just past Rottnest Island on the West Australian coastline, the Perth Canyon. Over the year the canyon attracts hundreds of Blue Whales and many other species of wildlife who feast in the Perth Canyon.

The migratory pattern of the Pygmy Blue Whales of Australia are still being discovered and new information about their mysterious lives is coming to light thanks to the hard work and persistence of researchers all over Australia and the world. Feeding and refuelling in the Perth Canyon during March/April they will then leave the canyon and head north to the tropical waters of Indonesia where it is believed some females will give birth to calves and they will also resume feeding again. During November/December many of these Pygmy Blues can now be detected feeding in the Bonney Upwelling located in South Australia. A round trip of over 10,000 kilometres and an average movement of 25 to 100km per day is cruise control travel for the Blue.

The future is exciting for the Pygmy Blue Whale populations found in Australian waters and we are fortunate to have their most well known feeding ground located so close to the city of Perth, Western Australia. Population numbers of Pygmy Blue Whales are believed to be greater than those of Antarctic Blue Whales and both of these species have been known to share the same feeding grounds. What is truly remarkable is the DNA research that was taken from Blue Whales feeding off Antarctica produced results of six Blue Whales who had both Antarctic Blue Whale and Pygmy Blue Whale in their genetics… the two species had mated and created hybrid Blues!

This incredible discovery is just one of the many inspiring reasons why the Blue Whales of Australia continue to attract the attention of researchers from all over the world as we do all that we can to learn everything possible about these beautiful mammals. Stay tuned as our inaugural Blue Whale Perth Canyon Experience is set to start this weekend and our excitement levels are even bigger than the size of these wonderful Blues to share with you all that we see and learn!

There is a place not far from the heart of Perth City in Western Australia that the largest mammals to have ever lived aggregate to feed on what is known as a biomass bonanza. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to witness the largest mammal species ever to grace our planet. Never before released to the public this new frontier eco hot spot off the Perth, Western Australian coastline is the feeding grounds for the largest aggregation of Blue Whales in the southern hemisphere. The biodiversity includes Sperm Whales, Orca’s (Killer Whales), Beaked Whales, Dolphins, Australian Sea lions, Sharks, Migratory Antarctic Sea Birds, Sunfish, Tuna and much more feed on this biomass bonanza which stands unrivalled on the Western Australian coastline as the marine production epicentre.

For the very first time ever you can join us as we discover The Perth Canyon, a little known pristine eco hot spot with gargantuan dimensions larger than the Grand Canyon with origins dating back to the entrance of the Swan River in Perth, Western Australia. Research teams have monitored Blue Whales and Sperm Whales along with many other cetaceans and mega fauna that come here to feed on krill created by the Leeuwin Undercurrent and the Perth Canyon topography. This interaction creates nutrient rich up welling waters where phytoplankton develops and an intense food chain for marine life prospers.

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Blue whales are the largest mammal ever to grace the planet, they can measure 31m in length and weigh 130 tons. Classified endangered there is an estimated only 12-20,000 remaining around the globe. The Perth Canyon is the summer feeding grounds of these Dinosaurs of the Deep™. This is your opportunity to be a part of a new frontier of research and development with Whale Watch Western Australia.

The Perth waters are very much an unknown as being the most isolated coastline in the world we are still discovering the many different species in this pristine environment. The area has also had sightings of the apex predator, the Orca or Killer Whale, which is known to frequent the area during the feeding and migration periods. The eco habitat from the nutrient rich up welling Leeuwin Undercurrent enables Perth Canyon to create a feeding biomass bonanza for the eco system from the smallest to the largest of ocean wonders and you can join the team as we Learn the Language of the Whales & Discover the Dinosaurs of the Deep™.

Tag: Pygmy Blue Whale

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