Backyard Zoology · 13 June 2018
2018-06-13T18:19:13+10:00
https://www.facebook.com/backyardzoology/posts/pfbid02ijxmjzD8pQTxY3VU4wfxQCjTTpSpS33PXMeSwLCdiuFDn2nJFgfSVdPvvUqDjUshl

Not gonna lie, this is not the post I had planned. And there actually is quite a bit of planning and thought put into each post even though it often seems like I've put them together, on my phone, in the dark, on the toilet 😂 I came across a critter on the weekend that has been on my bucket list for a long time; a critter that made me gasp and squeal and yell for husby to come and see and also made me pull my hand from the water pretty damn quickly when I realised what it was. 

But that story is now for another day (I'm such a tease). Because today, FINALLY, I achieved WHALES!!!!!!!!! 🐋🐋🐋

I've been feeling like the old woman from the Titanic standing staring out at the ocean day after day after day only to see nothing.."it's been 84 years" 😂. So today I took matters into my own hands. I've been hearing about quite a few sightings down at Shellharbour/Kiama and as my go to spot has been a big fat dud, I decided to jump in my little car and head on down the coast. And wouldn't you know it, just as I had reached my destination and was fuelling up with a coffee, husby sent me a screenshot from a FB page announcing the presence of whales...at my usual spot...40 minutes away 😂🙄 

But I'm nothing if not persistent so I went from spot to spot and stared longingly out to sea - I saw loads of dolphins - LOADS, Australasian Gannets, I met a really lovely woman, the sun was out...I mean, it was still a pretty brilliant day, but still nothing. And then as we were chatting on a headland surrounded by the most beautiful super rugged coastline, there out in the distance was a splash. Followed by another and another - two very active humpbacks breaching and tail slapping away. Now these whales were waaaayyyy in the distance - hard to see with the naked eye in the distance - barely can make out in a photo even though taken with a long lens in the distance but having been looking since the 1st of May there was no way I was going to complain. I was freaking excited!!!

And then I noticed a glint down near the lighthouse where I had spent a while earlier in the day. And a big blow. Much bigger than the blow from a dolphin. Now I don't run but I did the closest thing to running that I do, that squat kneed, stern faced, arm pumping movement which is always accompanied with heavy breathing and much sweating. And I got to my car and headed to the lighthouse and just in time as around the rocks, and I mean, CLOSE to the rocks emerged a beautiful shiny Humpback Whale. It didn't breach. It didn't tail slap. It just cruised along, showing itself occasionally. But what a total treat. So close that I could see the barnacles on its tail and that I could clearly see the footprint it left on top of the ocean as its tail moved underneath the water. 

So let's do this! Northern migration is finally go!

Humpback Whale
Kiama Lighthouse

#whaleon #kiama #kiamatourism #ilovekiama #humpbackwhales #wildaboutwhales #backyardzoology