We decided to name this young Humpback calf Cookie today after the many cookie cutter shark bites he had all over him and he gave us all a big surprise when we watched little Cookie breach!

There was also another uniquely marked mother and calf pod today both with a distinctive grey stripe along their backs and we were definitely seeing double when they both surfaced together… just beautiful? The behaviours and markings we see passed down from mother to calf is something very special and amazing to witness, just another reason why we love spending time with and learning all about our Dinosaurs of the Deep™

A few recreational vessels approached Cookie and his mum too quickly today and we soon found ourselves acting and behaving very much the same as a Humpback male escort with mum keeping her calf close to us and away from the other vessels she did not trust. Cookie certainly gained some confidence with having us close by and decided to show off his breaching which gave us a fantastic view of his entire body and his many cookie cutter scars. Mum must have been resting in some waters that had a few of these nasty little sharks about and although they look bad Cookie was in good health and these injuries will heal well in time.

-Whale Watch Western Australia

This story was adapted from a blog post, read the original here