You always remember your first: Southern Right Whales

By the time I rang Matt, I was puffing and panting so hard, trying to suck in deep lungfuls of air between words coughed out down the phone, he thought I had called him because I was being chased. What can I say? My fitness levels are not as high as they should be.

The morning had started out normally enough. I headed out for my walk, listening to a podcast about Ted Bundy. Trust me, works better than music for keeping your pace high. I had stopped and done that thing where you choose some random tree or post or mark on the pathway that for some reason, screams ‘half way’ and pivoted for home. I figured I was maybe 15-20 mins from my car. Now that’s not far. But you try looking out onto the surprisingly flat ocean in the distance and spotting what at first looks to be a long, black log laying underneath the water before it surfaces and does a very distinctive V shaped blow and see how far away your car feels!

I must have looked like a mad woman, looking around frantically, the details of Ted’s crimes still rumbling along in my ears, breaking into a jog and running one way and then another. I couldn’t form a thought. I just knew I needed to at least get to the beach that this whale was VERY close into, if not get to my car and race home for my camera. So I did that power walking thing for a bit, very olympic walking style, my hips moving at ridiculous angles, my elbows sharp triangles as I tried to get my very unolympic body to move faster.

Now I could have stuck to the pathway and I probably should have stuck to the pathway but this was my first whale of the season and as I kept one eye on it, I started to think that it might actually be a Southern Right Whale, an animal that has been on my bucket list forever. And then suddenly there was a second long black log that floated to the surface next to it. A calf! And that settled it. I dug in my heels and then half slid, half ran down the slippery grassy cliff (okay, embankment) onto the sand. And from there I ran back to my car where I made the breathless phone call to the husband asking him to get my long lens and chuck it on the camera ready for when I screeched up in the driveway a few minutes later.

I grabbed the husband along with the camera because this was a once in a lifetime kind of thing. I mean, firstly we’re in lockdown and can only travel for exercise and outdoor recreation up to 10kms from home. This was happening a couple of minutes from our house. And some estimates have the breeding females along the east coast of Australia numbering less than 80! And here was a cow WITH a calf! Yup, proper bucket list stuff.

I stood up on a headland at first. It was sunny but icy cold, with a bit of a wind blowing. That’s when I knew I was definitely looking at Southern Rights – the white, crusty callosities on the two enormous heads giving the ID away. We ran a bit and jumped back in the car and ran a bit more, trying to find the best spot to see these beauties. We ended up on the sand and the whales were doing what SRWs typically do, moving slowly, just beyond the breakers, resting as they made their way up and down the length of the bay.

I wish I’d taken some photos with my phone, just to show how huge these mammals are. I spent a lot of time ‘wowing’ at the size of what I thought was the adult whale, only for the mumma to float up next to her baby, absolutely dwarfing her and then the ‘wows’ turned to some adult words. Apologies to the children who were nearby! But the adults can grow to up to 18 metres in length with the calves being around 5-6metres, so you can’t really blame me 😉

I ended up spending a few hours with these incredible animals, as the weather turned from sunny to blowing a gale, the sea from aqua green to steel grey and the clouds dark and threatening. I really can’t find the words for it (yes I know there’s a fair few here already but still). I stood shaking for a fair chunk of that time and cried on and off. The rest of the time I had a huge smile plastered on my face. The interaction between the cow and her calf was just beautiful to watch, rarely apart and with the calf often swimming around her mother’s face (you can see this part way through the video above).

They were originally named the ‘right whale’ as they were the right whale to catch – with a good amount of meat, oil, slow swimming, often staying in the same area for hours and days, and they floated when dead. That’s bloody awful to think about especially considering the decimation of their numbers and having calves only ever 3-5 years means the comeback is slow going.

But I was in the right place, at the right time and seeing these creatures was exactly what I needed in a lockdown that has left me feeling flat and at times hopeless. They were definitely the right thing for me. So thankful to be able to have ticked that off the bucket list and I really don’t think I’ll come down for days.

Southern Right Whales – Thirroul