During the first few weeks, this young whale would come up to interact with us and, after a couple of minutes, would return to her mother. At the age of 4 weeks, the baby has developed a very distinct personality. We noticed that she would linger with the group and venture further away than seemed comfortable to us. On a couple of occasions, the mother decided to relocate but the baby refused to join her. We have found this a bit disturbing, as it seemed as if the baby was not listening to his mother. Eventually, the baby would join mom and they would either relocate or simply resume their rest. After witnessing this behaviour we decided to limit the amount of time we spent with the whales and would only visit them once or twice a week, concerned that our presence was influencing their behavior. Ha'apai Group, Tonga.
