Traditionally the humpbacks will give birth to their calves in the warm waters of the Whitsunday’s, around the end of August through to mid September, it is then that they will start their return journey back to the Antarctic, however what a delight it was to see two new born calves this week.

As we approached I thought it was a dolphin slapping its tail playing with the whales, then just as if to show her baby off the humpback mother swam directly to the boat and the little fellow put on a playful display.

A female will have a calf every second year, this calf can weigh between 1 – 3 tonnes , be 4-5 metres in length and will drink up to 600 litres of milk per day, it is one of the longest bonding relationships in the mammal world with the calves remaining with their mums for up to eighteen months before she will wean her baby off, the gestation period is eleven  months and they become sexually mature at the age of five.
If they are born on the East coast of Australia they will continue to migrate the east coast and likewise with the west coast.
Perhaps the warm sheltered waters of our bay are fast becoming the chosen breeding grounds for the Mums to birth.

The humbacks become sexually mature at the age of five and the gestation period is 11 months

Early Arrival for Baby Humpbacks is a post from: Moreton Bay Whale Watching Reports

This week we experienced the magical sound of the humpbacks singing, the males will sing to serenade the females….one large male will produce the call song and from there each and every other male will continue on with the same song,  however whilst the males sing to attract their potential mates the females make grunting loud social sounds.

Each and every year the song will change, it is passed on to the genetic memory of future whale generations.

If you are fortunate enough to have listened to the whales singing then you will understand how their music can filter into your senses and your soul, then and only then you are changed as a person.

Recordings of these songs are used to identify individual whales and possibly individual pods of whales as they navigate their particular oceans.  These melodious songs can be heard through the hull of a boat without the aid of the sophisticated underwater microphones.

Whilst diving in the pristine warm sheltered waters of the Moreton Bay Marine Park you will no doubt hear the whales sing.

CAPTAIN KERRY
BRISBANE WHALE WATCHING

WHALE MAIL is a post from: Moreton Bay Whale Watching Reports

The humpback is the most surface active of all the great whales displaying behavior that is simply breathtaking……. The pods were made up of mainly sub-adults who are the first to leave the freezing waters of the Antarctic making their way to the warm waters of the Whitsunday’s to give birth to their two tonne babies then travelling back down to the Antarctic, this journey is a 10 thousand mile round trip.

Whilst the anticipation was huge when the first blow was sighted, it was no comparison to the amazement of all on board when a young male approached and lifted its 4 meter pectoral fin and waved at us all, this is a very social behavior almost as if on cue, we experienced the mighty breach where they hurl their huge bodies out of the water and graceful fluke up dives. The fluke is how the humpback is identified with individual markings, almost like a human’s fingerprint we are able to track and observe the same whales each year.

So exciting folks, tune in for next week’s whale mail.

Captain Kerry

A Huge Breach Welcomes Us To The 2010 Season! is a post from: Moreton Bay Whale Watching Reports