Whale Season Gold Coast is enjoyed every June to October with August being a very interesting time as we have Humpback Whales travelling both northbound and southbound. It was a cosy start to our Sunday morning as the gentle pitter patter of rain settled around the Whale Watch 1 but it wasn’t set to last for very long. The rain cleared as our first pods were busy in travel mode as they covered ground efficiently and kept a steady and low profile. It is normal behaviour when they are not wanting to be noticed by other pods and often indicates that these are escort pods, a male and female happily enjoying each others company. It was soon very clear why as a short distance away the sighting grounds lit up with the Language of the Whales. Multiple pods launched into surface language as breaching, head lunging and tail lobbing flowed amongst multiple pods simultaneously. One pod was very close to us as two young bachelor males were showing off their extraordinary strength as they launched fully airborne alongside us in full body breaches.
Head lunging followed especially by the black bellied male who was very dramatic as he lifted with each swell adding extra panache to his landing. The response was swift as the pods ranging from 200, 400 and 800+ meters away responded with breaching and head lunging of their own. A superb example of how Humpback Whales communicate this morning as the excitement amongst these southbound whales was visible for all to see in spectacular fashion. The afternoon was a change of pace as the clouds had lifted enough to allow some sunshine through and create a dramatically beautiful scene. Our first pod was two juveniles who had recently joined together and were southbound at a very slow pace. The youngsters were extremely curious as they approached the Whale watch 1 and came in for a much closer look.
Peering back our way we watched on as they lifted upwards in a big spy hop right alongside to get a better look at all of our Pod Members onboard. It is always very special to have the Humpback Whales take time out of their day to spend some time investigating and socialising with everyone onboard. The local Bottlenose Dolphins came surging down the swell with much excitement as they spent some time this afternoon hanging out with us as well. The juvenile Humpbacks were relaxed and social as they mingled together, rolling over into a few flirty pec slaps. The journey south continued for them but slowly, it is very easy for these wonderfully curious young whales to get distracted. It isn’t a worry for them though, they have plenty of time to wander south as they wait patiently for the water temperatures to increase and with that so will the krill numbers in Antarctica.
