Fierce Whale Mating Competition

Thu, 05 Oct 2017

By Eco Ranger James

Competitive Humpback Whales Mating

There is less than 10 days left to come whale watching at Tangalooma for what's set to be a record breaking season! The weather was incredible today, we had a amazing run up the western side of Moreton island. The visibility was outstanding with hardly a cloud in the sky after the rain on Monday and Tuesday.

We spotted our first whales North-East of Comboyuro point. Immediately something seemed different, there appeared to be 6 whales all swimming very close together. We had encountered a competitive surface active group! This is when a female is ready to mate the males will follow close by, they exhibit behaviors such as spy hoping, lob tailing, peduncle throws, jaw claps and head throws! Competition between the males is fierce but the results are usually nothing more serious than scratches and bleeding tubercles.

We had these whales charging about and swimming at 10 knots in some stages which is very fast compared to 4 knots when migrating. When we saw the whales closer there was 10 males following a juvenile female that was late to breed. Some of the whales were showing their dominance barging the others out of the way to be closer to the female! Some even blocking one of the whales from breathing, by swimming on top of the blow hole! The slower weaker males began to drop off and we saw another 2 juvenile males join the competition.

We stayed with this pod time the entire time and even had a synchronized breath with 8 whales surfacing at once. This is a great example why you shouldn't disregard the end of the whale season, as every single trip is different!

About the author

Eco Ranger James

Once part of the Tangatours team, James is now one of the Eco Rangers at Tangalooma Island Resort's Eco Centre. James often joins in on the Whale Watching Cruise as the on board Eco Ranger.

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