The humpback highway is open!

I spend a lot of time talking about and writing about whales of all descriptions. It feels like there's been a bit of a slow start to the southern migration this year but that's mostly because I'm impatient. But right now, the floodgates have well and truly opened and there's lots of humpbacks around. There’s just something so mesmerising about these mammals and if you’re not a whale tragic yet, I reckon it might be because you haven’t really seen them. Sure, seeing a splash here or there is one thing, but being able to get up close and personal with them? Well, that’s another thing entirely. And in the Illawarra, it’s easier than you might think.

If you want to hit the water, Shellharbour Wild has moved into the new marina and offers tours out to see the whales. It’s pretty amazing at this time of year as the whales are on their way back south and that includes the mummas and their new calves. During this time, the cows teach their calves how to ‘whale’, so you’re likely to see lots of tail slapping, head lunges and my favourite, let’s face it, everyone’s favourite: breaching. So you get the massive female at around 40 tonnes, launching herself up and out of the water and landing with this spectacular splash (think: belly flop on steroids!). And then you get to see her young calf, copying the behaviour.

But you don’t have to get out on the water to appreciate these mammals. Just get yourself oceanside. And that’s what we did on the newest public holiday last week. It was threatening to rain and it was cold. We did that thing where we were both waiting for, and secretly hoping that the other one would pull a pin on the outing. You know when you can’t really be bothered? That’s what we were feeling, tired and unmotivated. But that’s the absolute best time to get out in nature and so we reluctantly packed our camera bag, and the car and hit the road.

By the time we pulled into Bass Point Reserve, it had started to sprinkle. Not a great start. But we noticed there were a few people already staring out at the water, their cameras very much at the ready. That’s a good sign. We walked a little further to check out the surrounding bush for any bird activity and around fallen logs for any snakes that might be trying to grab some sun. The ocean was pretty choppy and so every second wave looked as though it might be ‘something’. And then I spotted a back. Only briefly but a definite humped shape emerged from the water. I grabbed my husband and physically turned him, pointing his body towards the general location. And then we waited.

Humpbacks can spend up to an hour under water during a deep dive, so they can glide past with no other sign of them. But sometimes you get lucky and suddenly a mother and her baby surfaced only a few metres from the rocks where we were standing. No matter how many times this happens, this close-up encounter where you can see scratches and scrapes on the whale’s skin, and look into its eye, it never fails to stop me in my tracks. I will stand there, camera around my neck, jaw open, just watching.

I didn’t have long to stand there gawking though as another mother and calf turned up and this time the baby wanted to repeatedly head lunge – coming about half way out of the water and then falling forward, head first. Like with breaching, head lunging is often done as a repeated behaviour, which is great because there’s a lot of ocean to look at and you might only catch the splash the first time. We were lucky enough to watch this young one launch up and over again and again. It’s my first active whale encounter of the season so I was out of practice trying to work out where to point the camera but at least it gave me a fighting chance!

The ocean whipped up and the rain finally came down and, after a couple of hours, we decided to leave. I looked back over my shoulder lots of times as we ran to the car. Just in case.

I’d love to know your favourite whale watching spots around the Illawarra. Get in touch here.