York Sound Courtship – Humpback Whale Style!

York Sound Courtship. Photo credit M.Jenner

While en route to the East Coast of Australia via the “Top End” to take part in a collaborative research program on humpback whales, Whale Song and her crew had an opportunity to once again wind our way north through the nooks and crannies of the exquisite Kimberley coast. We visited well-travelled places and some, not-so-well-travelled places. Fastidiously making research notes each day about the whales and photographic data, Micheline also records our travel stories in a daily journal, bursting with drawings, sketches, prose and poems.

Michelines’ diary entry for August 15, 2011 reads…

“As we travel through gorgeous country we are even more delirious at our chosen anchoring spot, nestled near the multi-toned green mangroves of the Hunter River. Pre-dominant geological mounds, ranging from 250-300-359 metres high, including Mt Anderdon at 453 metres, remind me of photos of proud North American Indians standing tall, arms crossed and regal. Below their still craggy knolls, cloaks of thick, lush vegetation wrapped around their shoulders form substantial forested stands and wedges of deep green mangroves extend to the waters’ edge. In areas where mud has collected, these mangroves, also favoured crocodile habitat, have flourished creating a rich, thick forest 5 metres high on either side of the Hunter River. At 1555 we anchor in a spectacular spot near a mangrove forest patch and beneath the “Sphinx”, an obviously named knoll and a ridge of no less than ten huge “Chieftans”. Curt aptly names this embayment, “10 Chief Bay”. We find ourselves again in paradise…
Lounging back on the deck furniture on the aft deck Curt and I relax, unwind and let the “serenity” soak in reflecting on the marvellous sights of the day. Having seen 4 pods of humpback whales several aspects were unique, and worth major discussion. Indeed, what are humpback whales doing this far north? Is this a new but infrequently used body of water, York Sound, or is this area for those humpback whales desiring the slow-lane rather than the hustle and bustle and fast-pace of Camden Sound? There are always so many questions. The more we know, the less we realise we know.

An interesting pod observed today, was a pair of humpback whales that got my attention with a breach from 2.5 nautical miles away. Travelling and surfacing together with the stunning scenery of Prince Frederick Harbour in the background, I was excited about this sighting. After three blows each, they slowed considerably. I asked Curt for Whale Song to slow and then go into neutral gear and we began drifting while observing the nearly motionless whales. I was transfixed behind the camera, muttering, “Curt, they are doing weird things!”, while watching the two whales come together towards each other at the surface, in what seemed a close union. One of the whales rotated its’ body so that its’ belly was towards the other whale. This belly-towards whale, remarkably had its’ eye totally out of the water and extended its’ 5 metre long left pectoral fin onto the other animals’ body in an endearing “hug”. Just what was going on was initially unclear but was quickly becoming more obvious. The bodies came together slowly and the animal being “hugged” continued to alternately slowly roll and surface to breath at least four times, while the one “hugging” remained underwater without breathing, still belly towards the other. At one point, the “hugger”, or the male we surmise, gave a very quick movement with his caudal peduncle and flukes towards the female. Then with great swirls of turquoise Kimberley water surging, a few moments later, the two animals separated travelling their own ways about 90 degrees apart. Checking on my camera, I could see that the duration of the photographic record of this union is just over 10 minutes. Was this a successful mating? Or was this just courtship? There are always questions.
We may never know if this union created a calf, as the murky Kimberley waters kept their secrets but we will certainly be checking next seasons’ photos for a resighting of this female, hopefully with a calf!
What a treat to share rare moments like this in the lives of humpback whales! Ahh, I will sleep beautifully tonight, another day in paradise, with our dear whale friends!”

The meeting of the two whales.
Photo credit M.Jenner

The male approaches her and rolls to one side with his left eye clear of the water. Photo credit M.Jenner

The encounter ends with the male humpback quickly arching towards the female with pectoral fin high out of water. Photo credit M.Jenner

 

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