Whales return to Tassie waters as they migrate north

While out for a morning fish on his kayak, a huge whale surfacing nearby was not what David Clerk expected on a Sunday morning. Watch the video here >>

One man has had a close encounter with a mama and baby whale at Norfolk Bay near Koonya.

On Sunday morning at around 9am, David Clerk, who was out fishing on his kayak, saw a whale pop up around 200 metres away from him, she then returned to the surface much closer.

“I thought, oh, gee, that’s a bit unusual in Norfolk Bay,” Mr Clerk said.

“Then it popped up right where it was, which is only about 70 or 80 meters away. So it was pretty close.”

A southern right whale migrating through Tasmanian waters heading north for Winter. Picture: Marine Conservation Program

Mr Clerk said he thinks it was a humpback whale.

“You can’t see in the video, but there was a calf there as well,” he said.

Mr Clerk was visiting his partner’s parents home, who’d lived there for 20 years and said they’d never seen a whale in the bay so close to the shore.

After being lucky enough to see the whale and her calf so close and catch it on video, Mr Clerk said he quickly paddled away.

“I took the video and then bolted, because it was getting too close,” he said.

Southern right whales migrating through Tasmanian waters heading north for Winter. Picture: Marine Conservation Program

This time of year is when Humpback and southern right whales migrate north through Tasmanian waters.

The whales swim to calving grounds and aggregation areas.

They’ll be passing through Tasmanian waters through late May to July making their way to the cold waters in the Southern Ocean, then from mid-August, they make the journey back along with their calves.

Originally published as Whales return to Tassie waters as they migrate north