Watching Humpbacks in Perth waters today as dozens of whales moved past the coastline.
Our morning tour sighted many pods all in a close vicinity to each other. Many mothers and calves cruised past as they kept a low profile, perhaps the Rottnest Orca Pod had been close by over the last couple of days? A pod of two young adults swam directly towards us and curiously checked us out as they gracefully lifted their flukes to reveal beautiful and unique patterns.
During their journey towards, the mother and calf captured their attention and as they gently approached she made a quick move. Instead of creating a scene, she instead quietly moved past so as to avoid detection from the approaching adults and managed to move past without being noticed. A perfect way to retain her preferred spot in the resting grounds as the adults moved on.
Tail lobbing just up ahead first captured our attention during our afternoon tour and we approached to meet two adult whales. Whatever had initially caused the surface activity seemed to have moved away (perhaps that second pod we could see a bit further up ahead!). It was wonderful to get to know these two whales and through their behaviour we could see a male and female travelling together in an escort pod.
Both whales had lost an enormous amount of weight and both looked very skinny through their backbone and shoulders. It is good to know that they are on the way back to their fridge in Antarctica and today they continued cruising south. A special day to be out on the water from dawn to dusk and see the light capture the wings of the seagulls in different shades throughout the day as we watched Humpbacks in Perth waters.
-Whale Watch Western Australia
This post was adapted from a blog, read the original here
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