
‘Rare’ Antarctic Minke Whale Spotted Off Sydney Coast

An appearance from a rare Antarctic minke whale has delighted Sydneysiders over the long weekend.
The juvenile, measuring about five meters in length, was spotted on Monday morning by ferry passengers as it swam under and around Bundeena Wharf, near Cronulla. The species can grow up to ten meters, with females weighing over nine tonnes.
A video posted to Facebook by Cronulla and National Park Ferry Cruises, shows the creature splashing about near the surface of the water.
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Manager Christine Hack told The Guardian the whale followed the ferry into the wharf and back out again.
“I’ve been here for 20 years and I’ve never heard of [a whale] being in the Hacking like that,” she said.
“We see lots of dolphins, they love to swim along the bow.”
Footage surprises scientists
Dr Vanessa Pirotta, a marine scientist from Macquarie University, said that although dwarf minke whales were sometimes seen off Sydney during their migration months from May to November, an Antarctic minke was a cool but unusual sighting.
“I’ve never heard of an Antarctic minke whale here,” she said. “It’s a species that we don’t generally see off Sydney, regardless of time of the year.”
Although the creature could be mistaken for a Bryde’s whale, Dr Pirotta said that the two white below the blowhole indicated it was most likely an Antarctic minke.
A type of baleen whale, the Antarctic minke was ignored by whalers given its small size, and was able to avoid the fate of its larger brethren, and are not threatened.
While the species is known to inhabit waters from Antarctica to northern Queensland, they mostly stick to the chilly waters of the Antarctic.
Dr Pirotta said that she didn’t know how to whale ended up in such warm waters, it appeared to look like a healthy specimen, despite had a few marks from Cookie-Cutter sharks along its body.
“It’s swimming around, it’s not really skinny which is a good thing… Hopefully this individual swims back out to sea.”
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