Gold Coast best whale watching can be experienced onboard and is focused on understanding the Language of the Whales so we are able to observe behaviour, not influence it. Today was a fantastic example of just how intelligent our whales are that we have the opportunity of spending time with and the importance of treating them with care and respect. Our morning was spent with a mother and her new calf as the little one was observed feeding which resulted in boisterous energy. Plenty of rolling and twisting at the surface all over mum as the little one also practiced a few tail slaps.
Looking carefully at the fluke of this calf we could see a fresh wound which was healing and during this process the area can get very itchy as the wound improves. Fluke slapping would be one way of alleviating that irritation for this young calf who persisted with a few more fluke slaps throughout the interaction. The interesting situation with this pod was a younger male escort who was 150 meters away from the mother and calf. He was very curious and approached us with much interest as he sat alongside the Whale Watch 1 completely relaxed, it was wonderful to enjoy the company of this curious young male.
Our afternoon started with much activity around a mother Humpback Whale and her calf as she moved past the seaway but had attracted well over a dozen jet skis and smaller vessels following her much too closely and aggressively. She moved away from the area quickly and out to quieter waters with her calf as a white bellied male launched into a fast breach landing with a big splash on our starboard side. We waited patiently until things settled and as the recreational vessels began to disperse the whales began to relax and instead of seeing whales behaviour being influenced by these recreational vessels the whales were now able to do what they wanted to do and we could enjoy and observe.
One male in particular was just beautiful with a jet black belly which extended all the way to his fluke with only the underside of his pectoral fins remaining white. He was very relaxed at the surface and pushed up into a big tail lob before rolling into a few inverted tail slaps. Asserting his dominance he now began to approach us as the local Bottlenose Dolphins raced over to him for a social opportunity. A big spy hop appeared as he was surrounded by the dolphins before diving again. Waiting quietly we drifted on this perfectly calm day as he surfaced right on our stern, it was time for him to investigate us!
A thorough look over our stern was needed as he hung out with us before deciding to launch into an enormous breach right alongside the Whale Watch 1, it was spectacular! The purpose of this breach was to attract a female Humpback who had appeared in the area a short time ago and it didn’t take long for these two to join together and become one pod as they moved back in towards the coastline. It was a beautiful day with the whales with picture perfect conditions on the Gold Coast.
A pleasure to have our Pod Members join us today including our wonderful Veterans (the whales must have known the Mates 4 Mates family was onboard 🙂 which is a wonderful organisation and we would encourage everyone to learn more about Mates 4 Mates here and support if you can.
