A magnificent Saturday morning greeted us as we made our way out and it wasn’t long before we met our first mother and calf having a sleepy start to this lovely Saturday.

A bit further along we met another mother and calf who seemed very curious towards us as the mother presented her calf coming past our bow before circling around our stern. A female Humpback will only present her calf in this way when she is relaxed with the vessel and it shows a great sign of trust which always makes these moments very special when interacting with a wild mum and her baby.

Humpback mothers and calves were enjoying the calm conditions today, feeding their calves and catching up on some rest before continuing on that long migration south back towards Antarctica. The calves need to replenish their energy reserves by feeding on mothers milk and resting for a while before continuing on as they wouldn’t survive the migration from the nursery grounds of the Kimberley’s without these breaks. With warmer weather finally upon us and the season feeling like it is starting to change, this  will encourage these females to return to their feeding grounds as soon as possible… their first meal in six months is waiting for them!

-Whale Watch Western Australia

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