Calf season has well and truly hit Tangalooma! Every Whale Watch this week spotted the adorable baby humpback whales cruising along side their mothers. Most of these whales will be south-bound now, making their way slowly back to the rich feeding grounds of the Antarctic, but not before we get to see the playful young calves making the most of the warm conditions - rolling on their backs, breaching, and curiously investigating our boat.

We even spotted a mum and calf on Thursday's Eco-Cruise! While looking for dugongs, guests and crew alike were pleasantly surprised when the two whales popped up beside our Explorer vessel, well within the calm shallow waters of the bay.

What a week!

  
Spectacular sights this week.

Most of the dolphins have been visiting the feed more regularly once more; Bobo has been absent for quite a few weeks but as usual we just think he has better things to do! It's great to see Echo, Rani and Nari here again and doing so well: hunting and socialising with our females and the one year old calves.

Interestingly, we've also had quite a few unidentified dolphins visiting the feed, interacting and in some cases trying to mate with our female dolphins. With spring arriving and the weather getting warmer, we often see a peak in mating behaviour. As female dolphins are pregnant for 12 months, giving birth to their little calves in the warmer conditions gives them a better chance of survival. Here at Tangalooma, we don't feed these casual visitors, and after a few minutes of interaction they usually move off into the darkness in search of more females.

  
Shadow cheekily catches an
octopus lurking beneath
the jetty.

Thar she blows! What a week! The whales have been incredibly active: waving their pectoral flippers about, rolling onto their backs and breaching right out of the water. Reaching lengths of up to 15 metres, seeing these amazing giants leap clear of the surface is a humbling experience.

But it's the dugongs that have truly stolen the show this week; on Thursday we witnessed one of the largest herds all year drifting contentedly past our Explorer vessel, numerous mother and calf pairs amongst them! Being such a still day, we could even hear these slow-moving marine mammals as they came to the surface to breathe.

   
 These strange sea-cows can reach up to 400kgs
in weight!

Finally! Echo and Rani returned to the feed on Friday night, after almost a month's absence! Both of the boys are looking exceptionally well, Rani with a few fresh rake marks (no doubt from his encounters with other males while he's fighting over the females!) and Echo as curious as ever.

September is an exciting month for the Dolphin Care Team, with three of the dolphins celebrating their birthdays! Silhouette is turning 5 years old today, while her cousin Tangles is turning 9 a little bit later in the month. But who could forget the little pocket rocket Zephyr, turning just 1 year old on the 17th of September!?

Happy Birthday guys!