November is full of playful Humpback calves as they make their way south with mum and explore their new world during the epic southern migration.

Today we enjoyed the company of a mother and her little one who first captured our attention because mum was breaching on the horizon landing with white water in a spectacular fashion!

Meeting them for the first time we could see that she was a confident female and her calf was also feeding off the energy from mum with playful enthusiasm. Joining with them as they traveled along both mother and calf moved in close to us as they swam and it didn’t take long to build a trusting relationship with this confident mother and calf duo.

Noticing the female come to a relaxing halt we watched carefully as the calf went into feeding mode. Mum was staying still below the surface while her cute calf would spend a few moments circling at the surface replenishing oxygen before returning back to have another feed.

Nursing does take a bit of effort for a little whale and with an increased heart rate comes a more regular need to breathe. He repeated that cycle of swimming back down to mum and circling the surface in circles a couple of times until his belly was full. Often with a full belly we see the result being playful Humpback calves and today was no exception.

A mini breach after his feed and a few little spy hops to get a better look at everyone onboard followed after his brunch.

The female was relaxed and after feeding her calf they both continued on with their morning and we wished them well for the next stage of their journey. Two other mothers and their calves were also resting close by and enjoying the peaceful conditions.

-Whale Watch Western Australia

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