‘Majestic’ 55-foot sea creature and her baby seen in ‘very rare’ Australia sighting
Onlookers in Australia got a rare glimpse of a huge whale and her calf, photos and videos show.
The southern right whale and her calf were spotted swimming close to the shore in the Hastings River at Port Macquarie the morning of Thursday, Aug. 10, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. The creatures drew a crowd as they made their way along the breakwall.
“Everyone could go down and have a look, when normally such close distance would be almost impossible,” Alex McNaught, a photographer who witnessed the whales, told the news outlet. “It was fantastic — a very rare spotting.”
The approximately 55-foot mama whale and her calf were first spotted at about 7:30 a.m. when a National Parks and Wildlife Service staff member was out surfing and noticed the massive creatures, according to Macquarie Port News.
Photos and drone footage of the encounter shared on social media show the pair swimming through the water together.
“Awesome sight to see a mother and baby southern right whale have graced our shores and came right on in through our breakwall for all to see and what a show they put on for about 5 hours,” Brett Hall wrote in a Facebook post. “These whales don’t normally come this far up so its a rare occasion to see them up close and personal.”
Another Facebook user shared photos and video of the “very rare” experience.
“This mum and calf southern right [whale] were amazing to see, such a rare exciting experience for all who witnessed these majestic endangered whales today,” Photographybyivanka posted. “I hope you appreciate the beauty of them.”
Other social media users shared their excitement about the sighting.
“Was insane to see her so close..we have been so lucky,” one person commented on Hall’s Facebook post.
“Unreal,” another person commented on the post.
“So awesome,” a third comment said.
Endangered southern right whales
Southern right whales are considered endangered, and experts estimate there are fewer than 270 individuals remaining in the south-east Australian population, National Parks and Wildlife Services area manager Shane Robinson told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
Officials have been tracking the mother since early July when she was spotted near Bermagui, which is about 490 miles south of Port Macquarie, Robinson told the news outlet. The whale and her calf were spotted again about a week ago near about 100 miles north of Port Macquarie.
Southern right whales are large, stocky whales characterized by their lack of a dorsal fin, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. They migrate between high-latitude feeding areas during the summer and low-latitude breeding regions during the winter. They are found throughout the Southern Hemisphere.
Port Macquarie is on Australia’s eastern coast, about 240 miles north of Sydney.
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