Humpback whale, calf presumed to have swam from the Richmond River at Ballina to sea overnight

Any further sightings of these whales, plus reports of any injured, stranded, entangled or distressed whales, dolphins, seals and dugongs must be reported to ORRCA by calling [phone].

A humpback whale and calf were spotted near the Burns Point Ferry in the Richmond River at Ballina.

Updated Friday 10.30am: A humpback whale and its calf are presumed to have swum back into the ocean overnight.

Jools Farrel, from the Organisation for the Rescue and Research of Cetaceans in Australia (ORRCA), said there have been no sightings of the animals since late yesterday, when they were seen swimming down the Richmond River towards the sea.

“Neither DPI, Marine Rescue or us have received any new information of sightings, so we presume they have swum back out to sea,” she said.

Mrs Farrel said footage of the whales confirmed them to be humpbacks.

“The shape of their dorsal fins confirmed they are humpbacks, they are definitely now Southern Rights,” she said.

“Southern Rights don’t have dorsal fins.”

The ORRCA vice president said an adult humpback whale like the one seen in Ballina can be 12 to 14m in length, and weight 40 to 50 tonne.

“The bub seemed to be pretty fresh, it was a very young calf,” she added.

A National Parks and Wildlife Service spokeswoman confirmed that assessment.

“There have been no sightings of the humpback whale and her calf in the Richmond River estuary this morning (Friday)”, she said.

“We are hopeful that after a short rest in the estuary, the pair have headed safely back out to sea to continue on their migration.”

“NPWS, Fisheries and ORRCA will continue to monitor the river today.”

Any further sightings of these whales, plus reports of any injured, stranded, entangled or distressed whales, dolphins, seals and dugongs must go to ORRCA by calling [phone] or to NPWS on 13000 PARKS.

Updated Friday 9.30am: The last known sighting of the whale and calf sheltering in the Richmond River was late yesterday afternoon at Pimlico.

The whales were spotted entering the Richmond River at Ballina on Wednesday afternoon, and have swum upstream.

A National Parks and Wildlife Service spokesman said it wasn’t unusual for whales to take shelter, particularly when travelling with calves.

“Typically they will only stay in the estuary for a short time before continuing on their migration’” the spokesman said.

People were warned to stay clear of the whales, and to minimise noise around them.

“Please give this mother-calf pair plenty of space and keep noise to a minimum. If you are out on the water, on a boat, surfboard, surf ski or kayak, then you need to maintain a distance of at least 300m. Swimmers are not allowed to enter the water within 100m of a whale. You must not block its direction of travel or chase it,” the spokesman said.

If you see a stranded, entangled, or sick whale, please report it immediately to NPWS on 13000 PARKS or ORRCA on [phone].

Update 4pm: It was not unusual for a mother and calf whale to spend a day or two in an estuary, a National Parks and Wildlife Service spokesman said.

NPWS, ORRCA and Maritime were monitoring a humpback whale and her calf that have made their way into the Richmond River estuary at Ballina overnight.

NPWS spokesman said the last report they had was that the mother and calf were near Pimlico Island and were heading slowly downstream towards the mouth of the river, but that was at about 1.30pm.

A humpback whale and calf have been taking shelter in the Richmond River at Ballina.

“It is not unusual to see humpback whales entering rivers and estuaries during their migration, especially new mothers who seek out protected waters so their babies can rest and suckle,” the spokesman said.

“Typically they will only stay in the estuary for a short time before continuing on their migration.

“Please give this mother-calf pair plenty of space and keep noise to a minimum. If you are out on the water, on a boat, surfboard, surf ski or kayak, then you need to maintain a distance of at least 300m. Swimmers are not allowed to enter the water within 100m of a whale. You must not block its direction of travel or chase it.”

If you see a stranded, entangled, or sick whale, please report it immediately to NPWS on 13000 PARKS or ORRCA on [phone].

A humpback whale and calf have been taking shelter in the Richmond River at Ballina.

Original story, noon: Crowds are gathering to catch a rare glimpse of a humpback whale and its calf in the Richmond River at Ballina.

The mammals were first spotted in the Ballina wall on Wednesday afternoon, and quickly moved up the river.

Watch the whales in this video taken by Timothy Ghee.

Jools Farrel, from the Organisation for the Rescue and Research of Cetaceans in Australia (ORRCA), said the animals were spotted passed the Burn Point Ferry, which was located about 5km from the Ballina wall.

“At this point nobody has been able to take good images of the whales for positive identification, but we believe they are humpbacks,” she said.

“Mothers will rest their calves in quiet waters and bays, but it is rare for these two whales to have gone so far up the river.

“We received information that the whales were moving towards the ocean again this morning, but at some point they turned back, and they were seen again around the ferry area.”

A humpback whale and calf have been taking shelter in the Richmond River at Ballina.

The ORRCA vice president warned visitors and residents not to enter the water on boats or kayaks trying to get close to the whales.

“National Park’s legislation is clear – everyone needs to stay at least 300m away from the whales,” she said.

“This is not only an issue of the safety of the whales, a humpback whale will become very protective of its calf if anyone approaches.

“We are hoping that they head towards the ocean again on high tide.”

High tide was expected to peak at 0.94m at the Ballina bar at 1.54pm.

Ballina Shire Council confirmed the ferry was still operating normally.

Residents were reminded to report all injured, stranded, entangled or distressed whales, dolphins, seals and dugongs to ORRCA by calling [phone].