ORRCA volunteer captures rare footage of six humpbacks on a heat hunt in a tiny bay along Shellharbour’s coastline

An ORRCA volunteer captures rare footage of humpback whales on a heat hunt in a tiny bay south of Sydney.

Eight humpback whales on a heat hunt in a small bay along the NSW coastline have been captured in rare footage by a marine mammal rescue volunteer.

Ty Peters spends four days a week during June monitoring whales off the Illawarra coast for Organisation for the Rescue and Research of Cetaceans in Australia (ORRCA), an Australian not-for-profit dedicated to saving marine mammals.

He headed down to Bass Point Reserve in Shellharbour, south of Sydney, about 10am on Monday and witnessed seven males chasing a juvenile female into Bush Rangers Bay.

Mr Peters said when female humpbacks are on heat the males chase them and while that is relatively common, what was not common was the bay they swam into.

ORRCA volunteer Ty Peters captured rare footage of humpback whales on a heat hunt in Bush Ranger Bay near Shellharbour, about 115kms south of Sydney. Picture: Ty Peters

“We occasionally get one solitary whale going in there and investigating but to my knowledge that’s the first time we’ve ever had a heat run go into the bay,” he said.

“Getting eight whales in that confined bay is pretty wild.”

Mr Peters said what the drones did not capture was the incredible noise that came from the whales as they hunted down the female.

“The whales have got a really deep sound and it vibrates through your chest,” he said.

“They exert a lot of energy, which makes them get out of breath quite quick so their sound is deep.

“Then you’ve got the slapping of the tails and the pectoral fins, imagine dropping your front door just flat onto ground, you get that sound almost like a cannon launch.”

ORRCA volunteer Ty Peters said it was rare to see eight humpbacks in Bush Rangers Bay, which is about 75m across at its widest and 200m long. Picture: Ty Peters

Mr Peters said about 40,000 humpback whales swim past Australia’s east coast each year, along with southern right whales, minkes, false killers and others.

He said they sighted about 150 whales a day if the conditions were right for the huge mammals to migrate north to Queensland.

“If the currents are pushing north then they don’t have to do a lot of work, which means they don’t exert a lot of energy and don’t have to breathe as heavy, they just cruise,” he said.

“If the ocean is flat then you don’t get water splashing into the blowhole so they’re very hard to spot then, whereas, if they’re having to exert themselves a little bit more than they’re taking deeper breaths.

“If it’s a little bit choppy, then they’re doing bigger blows to clear the air.”

About 40,000 humpback whales swim past Australia’s east coast each year, along with southern rights, minkes, false killers and others. Picture: Ty Peters

Mr Peters said one of the best vantage points to see the whales was along the Illawarra coastline and people could help ORRCA monitor the mammals swim past on their 2025 Whales Census Day on June 29 by registering at orrca.org.au.

“Whales are a protected species so there is 100m exclusion zone around whales for all watercraft and drones,” he said.

“We have quite a lot of problems with people coming in and flying 10ft above them.

Originally published as ORRCA volunteer captures rare footage of six humpbacks on a heat hunt in a tiny bay along Shellharbour’s coastline