First newborn whale calf sighting of 2017
Today was a very special day, as we got to see our first newborn calf of the 2017 Humpback whale migration! Not only did we see 8 Humpback whales today, we also witnessed a Manta Ray breaching from the water's surface!
The whale watch cruise began with two pods of adult and juvenile whales that continued to dive and surface as they swam north towards Flinders Reef. Once we were fulfilled with watching these two pods, we made our way closer to Cape Moreton.
As we were cruising through the crystal clear blue waters of Moreton Bay Marine Park towards the Cape, some airborne whales caught our peripheral vision. We gazed at these waters, and were amazed at the sight of two adults, and a new born calf head lunging from the water's surface! We approached closer to this pod, and the guests reacted with excitement as they saw how tiny the newborn calf was. This pod performed a spectacular show for us, with pec slaps and simultaneous tail slaps, right in front of us! The pod then calmed down as we watched on, and the mother-calf pair became very relaxed. We spent 30 min observing these beautiful mammals relax on the water's surface. The calf was also suckling from its mother. The mother whales produce up to 600 litres of milk a day, with the calves putting on 50 to 60 kg per day.
We've had an unreal day on today's whale watch cruise, and it was so exciting to see this young calf enjoying and relaxing in the waters of our backyard, in Moreton Bay Marine Park! We hope to see many more mother-calf pairs in the next few months of the whale watching season!