Today we saw our first humpback whale calf of the season! We encountered the calf with its mother and an escort whale just a mile off north head.

Usually we see the first calves on their way back south after they have been born up north in warmer waters around Fiji, Tonga, Northern Queensland etc.. around October, November.

Judging by its size and colour it probalby has been born around a week ago!

The further south a calf is born the less chance of survival there is! The reason Humpbacks go on their migration is to give birth in warm and sheltered waters, as the calf does not have an insulating layer of fat yet. The mother will feed its calf around 800/900 liters of very fatty milk per day allowing the calf to bulk up very rapidly building up that all important layer of fat!

So lets hope this calf does make it to the warmer waters with its mother and we see it again on its way back south in a couple of months!