Baby Whale
- Tone
- Jul 13, 2019
- 3 min read
Updated: Apr 23, 2022
Baby Whale – 21 July 2018
Last winter, on a one mild afternoon, Woody and I went out looking for whales. I had picked up a new lens a few days before, (a telephoto Sigma 150 – 600mm) and absolutely hanging to test it out.
After spying on a few boats coming back, either to port or heading south towards the shipping lanes, we decided to head north hoping to see something they may have missed. The wind was due to pick up later on, giving us a good push for ride back to port. The swell was up, not bumpy, just enough to challenge your line of sight.
Idle in Stockton Bight, standing on the gunwale to get enough height to see if there was any whales around, all seemed quite. They may have taken the straight line from Swansea to Nelson Bay, and not moved into Bight.
A light westerly had glassed off the surf, producing beautiful land and seascapes of Stockton Beach the wrong way! The wave sprayed back on themselves as they lipped, amazing, and sun kissed soft sand with 4x4 tracks from the days visitors. Smoke from a fire on the beach puffed away in the distance.
“Hold on, look to your right”. We can see a commotion of fin slaps. Pectoral fins splashing around and the belly of a Humpback Whale. This went on for about 5 minutes. Then it rolled and dived down the face of a wave. Gone!
Floating around the Bight, time to break out the biscuits and cheese. Munching away surveying the coast line, there has to be some moving in here over night to take shelter. They can’t all be in the shipping lanes!
“Can you see that whale? Over there. Quick look” Woody was back up on the gunwale. We both caught a glimpse of a whale go over the face of the wave and as it did a white object appeared on the back of the wave. “No!”
Staring at the spot. We saw nothing else.
“Was that a dolphin with that whale?”
“Maybe, No it’s a Baby Whale! It came out of the back of the whale” Woody picked up the binoculars. “Can’t see the swell is stopping the sight”.
“Look over there” swinging off the side of the canopy and tip toes on the eski I stretched out as far as possible. Between the swells I can see this white thing floating just below the surface of the water as the swell pushed it up. As the swell rose again the whale seemed to be pushing from underneath the white thing to the surface. It seemed to be supporting at to the surface.
“Oh my God! It’s dead. It’s playing with something dead. It is pushing something dead. Is it a dolphin?”
Woody jumps on to the bow and yells “No it’s a Baby Whale! The mother is pushing it's baby to the surface. To Breath!.”.
This is when time stands still and its “Holy Shit!”, what do you grab. What do I throw to him to film this. He is too far away. “*$#%!”. The swell is stopping me from focusing on the position as I can’t hold on and hold the lens at the same time. I need two more arms to do this.
We watched her manoeuvre her baby until it was able to breathe. She slowly floated between the swell, with the baby balancing on one of her pectoral fins. Finally the baby was moving on its own, along side its mother. Its dorsal fin bent over, and its skin pale, so tiny compared to its mother.
In awe we are both in awe, and the baby heads towards us. “Oh my god its coming this way, Look how small it is. Oh Mumma its ok we are not moving, we are just sitting here, your baby is beautiful”. Yes I’m saying this to a huge Mammal and her new born, as they both come towards us, I’m shaking, I’m, I don’t know it’s a baby , a New Humpback Whale Baby. Look at it. Look at it! I can’t believe what I am seeing.
Above shows the baby's dorsal fin bent over.
Above Mum following her new baby.
Both Bub and Mum come past, eye ball us and move further into the Bight.
When we cannot see them anymore, I think we finally breathed.
“No we did not see that!”
“Yes We Did!”
Woody and I still cannot believe our eyes and we hope this little one gets to live a full life.
Is this the one we saw?
https://www.goldcoastbulletin.com.au/lifestyle/pets-and-wildlife/photographer-snaps-epic-pic-of-white-baby-whale-with-its-mum/news-story/ba904584c8867f072679228a63fe54ad
A Moment in Time We Will Never Forget.
Till next time
Tone xx
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