Bermudians tend to associate the spouts and offshore breaches of humpback whales with the spring — and with the migratory giants sticking well offshore.

But whales were sighted last month, as they increasingly are over the winter in Bermuda waters in recent years.

Sightings yesterday morning at the West End were striking for a different reason: the animals came into Grassy Bay just off Dockyard’s north basin, deep within the reef line and notably close to shore.

Three humpbacks got up close, spouting and breaking the surface in displays sighted by ferry operators along with shoreline onlookers.

It was a show that quickly lit up social media ashore.

Greater numbers of humpbacks can be expected soon as the animals linger in Bermuda waters during their migration back up north from the Caribbean, headed for the rich feeding grounds off New England and Atlantic Canada.