As the whale season draws to a close this month it seems appropriate we are catching the last glimpses of the humpbacks that grace our shores year after year.
Humpback whales get their name from the acrobatic way they arch their back out of the water when preparing to dive. As an aside, the less prevalent southern right whales on the other hand have an unfortunate meaning behind their name. They were considered by whalers to be the ‘right’ whale to catch: they were slow-swimming, floated when dead, and provided large amounts of valuable oil.
The route that our humpback friends take seems to be naturally based on current. About 5-6km off the coast of Cape Byron is the south-flowing East Australian Current. When traveling north to breed and to birth their babies the whales swim between this southerly current and the coast, picking up north-flowing inshore currents. As they return home after breeding or with their newborn calves they take advantage of the East Australian Current.
From whaling to whale watching
The coastlines of Tweed, Byron and Ballina are well-placed to follow the annual migration of humpback whales. Between 1954 and 1962 Cape Byron was a strategic site for directing whaling boats and due to their slow speed humpbacks were easy prey for the whalers. During that period the population of humpbacks along the eastern coast plummeted from 10,000 to approximately 100! Luckily today they are protected in Australian waters and their numbers have been increasing at about 10-11% per year. In fact numbers of the iconic humpback are increasing at such an unexpected rate they could soon be removed from Australia’s official list of threatened species. As of 2015 their numbers are estimated at anywhere between 17,000-30,000. Females have a calf every 2-3 years on average, having a 12 month pregnancy.
Humpbacks swallow colossal amounts of food in one sitting
Humpbacks are gulpers in that they swim then gulp a mouthful of plankton or fish which makes concentrated masses of prey like krill preferable for their method of feeding. They can get through up to 2,500kg of food in a season in Antarctica. This has to sustain them during their long journey northwards for breeding when they live off their layer of blubber.
The males seem to be crooners and are known to sing long, complex ‘songs’ that can be heard up to 20 miles away. These songs can be up to 20 minutes long and are sung for hours on end, possibly as a mating call.
Get to the coast in the coming weeks to view these beautiful creatures as they head back south to Antarctica for the summer. If you’re lucky you might catch a baby splashing around trying out its baby flippers!
Find some of the best spots to watch whales during their migration season.
