Well, it would seem that my manifestation skills are in tip top shape again! After a morning of writing about whales and then a chunk of time talking about them, I actually got to sight my very first humpback of the season this afternoon! Got to say when I saw that first puff of water vapour, air and mucous (yes, that's what it is. No, it isn't made any lovelier by the photographing of an occasional rainbow in the droplets 😂) I was so bloody excited!!!
I did that thing where you look around to see if anyone else saw and squinted my eyes and concentrated really hard because that's what makes the whales appear, don't you know? But after a few more blows, it soon became clear that this was a real life actual whale and not a wave, or a splash from a dolphin or a diving bird and then I saw the body and all was right with the world again. Except, this was an odd one.
When I first spotted the whale it was quite a distance out but I soon noticed that it seemed to be moving closer to the shore. Not right in by any means, but close enough to be able to be seen easily. And then it kind of hung around. It moved out a little and then came back in again. It dived a couple of times, showing off its tail fluke but other than that it was not very active at all. Now at this time of year, the whales don't normally hang around much at all - they are on a baby making mission to the warmer waters off the Queensland coast. So, the fact that it was spending quite a bit of time just hanging out was a little strange. And it was spending a fair amount of time just chilling near the water's surface.
Now, whales do rest and sleep and it's possible that's what it was doing but there have been several sightings of sick whales further down the coast so I decided to call it in to ORRCA (Organisation for the Rescue and Research of Cetaceans in Australia) and they will have a look for it tomorrow, as will I and hopefully we won't be able to see it and it will just be back out to sea doing whale stuff. But if you ever see a seal, dolphin, dugong or a whale that you think might be in trouble, particularly in NSW (although they do have teams in QLD and WA) give them a call on (02) 9415 3333.
So everything crossed for this humpback and I've heard a few reports of other whales sighted today so tomorrow might be the time to grab that coffee and go sit on a headland and just wait and see as I'm officially declaring the whale season OPEN!!!
Humpback Whale
Bulli
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