The whales are coming
Bondi looks set to be the viewing spot of choice for Sydney whale-watchers this year.
A record number of the giant mammals are expected to travel up and down the NSW coast this season, according to Geoff Ross, wildlife management officer and coordinator of the marine fauna programs for NSW National Parks.
“June 1 marks the official start of the whale watching season in NSW, but whales are often seen as early as April and their return to Sydney each year is cause for celebration,” he said recently at the launch of the NSW National Parks’ new website, ‘Wild About Whales’. (www.wildaboutwhales.com.au)
From May through to late July, thousands of whales migrate along the Australian East coast from their summer feeding grounds in Antarctica to warmer waters off Queensland where they mate and calve. They make the return trip to the Antarctic in spring.
“We are just days into the whale watching season and Humpback Whales, pods of Dolphins and scores of flying fish have been spotted along our coastline. This is great news as it shows that the mammals are flourishing. And, to see these numbers so early on in the season, usually heralds a bumper whale watching season,” said Pip McGrouther, of Bass & Flinders Cruises, a whale-watching venture based in Darling Harbour, Sydney.
Humpbacks are baleen or filter feeding whales that consume massive quantities of krill (tiny shrimp-like crustaceans) and small fish. Fully grown they get to 16 m in length and weigh as much as 40 tonnes. Pods of 20 or more are seen each year as they make their annual trip – some of the best spots on the coast for whale watching are North Bondi, Cape Byron, Barrenjoey, North Head, Jervis Bay and Eden.
Whales often come into Bondi and other beaches for rest and recreation on their long trip and occasionally come quite close to shore. But surfers, swimmers and boats in NSW are legally required to keep at least 30 metres from whales (for their own protection as much as that of the whales).
A spokesperson for the NSW Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water warned, “Whales with calves are particularly protective. The reason they come into beaches like Bondi in the first place is because the shallow water protects them from things like great whites.”
– By Jeremy Brown
