Humpback whale calf makes splash off Gold Coast
THIS calf is having a whale of a time on the Gold Coast and he isn’t in any rush to migrate back to Antarctic waters with his mum. The magnificent mammals have wowed onlookers off Surfers Paradise.
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THIS calf is having a whale of a time on the Gold Coast and he isn’t in any rush to migrate back to Antarctic waters with his mum.
The humpback whale wowed onlookers as they frolicked and “breached repeatedly” off Surfers Paradise beach yesterday.
The pair is among 100 whales passing by the Glitter Strip on a daily basis as the end of whale season nears.
Sea World Whale Watch general manager David Robertson said the whales weren't far off shore.
“They were breaching quite close to us,” he said.
“They (calves) are quite playful and full of energy, like little lambs at Spring time — so they do leap around and jump around a lot.
“That’s what this one was doing today (Tuesday).”
Mr Robertson said Sea World Whale Watch tours would continue into November because there were lots of whales around.
“There’s no lack of whales,” he said.
“We guarantee them up until the end of October.
“We just hope the weather stays good and there are plenty of whales.”
Whales in Paradise operator Anthony Ardern told the Gold Coast Bulletin said while there was no shortage of whales around it was “starting to take a little longer to find” them.
He said two weeks ago they were finding them before they left the Seaway.
“They are the closest for the entire season now, all the whales are very close ... 500 metres of the beach,” Mr Arden said.
“You’ve got all the mothers and calves coming down so they kind of just cruise in close to the more sheltered waters.
“On the northern migration they’re about five nautical miles off shore — so, they are following the depth contours north and also following more of a straight line, cos they’re in a rush to get up to the warm waters to give birth.
“Once they have given birth they cruise down and they slowly come down, a lot closer to shore.”
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