The Whales of Wollongong...
Oct. 17th, 2015 04:16 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
khiemtranWhile the winds seemed to bring all sorts of new birds to the lagoon last week, something else unusual was happening just out to sea. The humpback whales, on their southerly migration, were suddenly coming in very close to shore, such that I managed to see them four days in a row just off the coast.
Normally, the best viewing is during the northern migration, when the whales are in a hurry to get up to warmer waters. In the southern migration, they did to split up more and head further out to see. The exception to this is family groups with young calves, which sometimes seek the shelter of the coastline. Here is one example. As you can see, the left-most tail has much smaller flukes than the other, indicating a juvenile.
Another shot of the same group.
Sometimes whales would put on a breaching show by themselves, possibly in order to communicate with other more distant groups.
It's amazing to watch a big humpback throwing their weight around. These really are out equivalent of elephants or giraffes (except they're even bigger).
On other days, there was lots of pectoral fin waving and slapping. The purpose of this behaviour is not fully clear yet, at least to human.
A final wave as the week ends...
Normally, the best viewing is during the northern migration, when the whales are in a hurry to get up to warmer waters. In the southern migration, they did to split up more and head further out to see. The exception to this is family groups with young calves, which sometimes seek the shelter of the coastline. Here is one example. As you can see, the left-most tail has much smaller flukes than the other, indicating a juvenile.
Another shot of the same group.
Sometimes whales would put on a breaching show by themselves, possibly in order to communicate with other more distant groups.
It's amazing to watch a big humpback throwing their weight around. These really are out equivalent of elephants or giraffes (except they're even bigger).
On other days, there was lots of pectoral fin waving and slapping. The purpose of this behaviour is not fully clear yet, at least to human.
A final wave as the week ends...
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Date: 2015-10-17 06:09 am (UTC)I've never seen a whale in real life, and I suspect my mental image of them is not nearly big enough!
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Date: 2015-10-17 07:55 am (UTC)