Curious juvenile humpback whale spotted at Hobart’s wharf

A curious humpback whale was captured frolicking in Hobart waters on Tuesday. The sight was a delight for onlookers, but it comes with a serious warning. Watch the video.

A curious juvenile humpback was having a whale of a time in the Derwent River, swimming along Hobart’s wharf on Tuesday morning.

CSIRO staff were surprised to witness a curious juvenile humpback try to catch a glimpse of them.

“It created a lot of excitement across the office and the team crowded around the windows, waiting because we’d heard that it had been seen earlier and then it appeared right in front of our windows,” CSIRO ship management program group operations leader Stefan Stimson said.

“We’re very spoiled by having a view from many of the buildings on the water.”

The NRE are urging people to give Humpback whales space as they migrate back to the Southern Ocean. Photo: Kim Kliska

He said the whale got a few “gentle” glimpses as it glided through the water travelling further down the wharf.

“We run the research vessel, the Investigator and that goes off all around the country, doing science from the edge of Antarctica up to the tropics and that’s fantastic, but it’s really nice to see this – the mammals and the marine life right on our doorstep, which is ironic,” he said.

The NRE are urging people to give Humpback whales space as they migrate back to the Southern Ocean. Photo: Kim Kliska

It comes as the Whale Hotline has received numerous reports of people harassing the whale while it explores the Derwent River.

“We ask that boat operators, jet skis, even swimmers give these guys as much distance as possible,” Marine Conservation Program wildlife biologist Kim Kliska said.

“The reason being is if people, particularly in boats, are coming closer than that, it can alter their behaviour and can have quite detrimental impacts so we just asked that people stay away as much as possible.”

The NRE are urging people to give Humpback whales space as they migrate back to the Southern Ocean. Photo: Kim Kliska

Whales are migrating back south after spending time in northern waters for the calving season.

The guidelines state people must stay at least 100m for mature whales and at least 300m for calves.

“It’s important not to touch or try to feed the whales. It seems a bit of a funny one, but people will see whales and think they need to be fed or they can go and touch them because they’re not possibly swimming away from them,” Ms Kliska said.

“The humpback whale that we saw in the Derwent is the most common species that we see and they feed predominantly on Antarctic krill, which is prevalent in all cold waters.

“We’ve got a lot of young juveniles, which are really exploratory and they’re the ones that tend to end up in the Derwent and in strange places.”

The public are encouraged to report whale sightings to the Whale Hotline [phone] (0427WHALES).