02/09/2024
Today, we encountered a pair of whales. One of them was immediately interested, which is what we are looking for, so we entered the water. What happened next took us by surprise. The larger female of the pair swam between us and separated one person from our group. She then started to intimidate and get physical ... by which I mean, she deliberately touched the swimmer.
Normally, this kind of excitable behaviour escalates during encounters. It's not uncommon for us to end a swim long before the whales disengage. On this occasion, she was already quite excited. It makes me think the other whale was a male. He was bubble-blowing which usually indicates a level of anxiety or excitement. Our appearance as playthings was at an opportune moment for her but not so much for us.
Tongan whale guides are highly trained. In addition, we run our own risk assessment and oversee whale behaviour. It was a joint decision to call the swim off. Safety has to come first. These are big animals and not perfect.
Ironically, today, a whale swim guide in Queensland was thrown by a whale tail. Swimmers were on a 'mermaid line' (a rope off the back of the boat). If we had used a mermaid line today. that female whale would have got tangled, possibly sinking the boat and drowning swimmers. Australia has very poorly developed whale swim practice and clearly, the guides are not reading whale behaviour.
Nevertheless, we had a spectacular day. Here are some photos. We also saw an amazing heat run (males chasing a female) and a breaching calf.
