Whale Watching in Albany

Albany's Whale Season runs from June to October.
In 2007 visitors to Albany and the locals were awed by great numbers of Southern Right and Humpback Whales in and around Albany's sheltered coves.  At Middleton Beach, locals slept to the sound of a deep exhalation as a mother and calf tuck in close to shore.
Whale Watching cruises run daily during this time though you are also likely to sight the creatures from scenic walks and trails in the Albany area.
Please read on to learn more about these magical creatures.

The Humpback Whale

The Humpback gets its scientific name from the Greek word "megas" meaning great and peteron, a wing , because of its high wing-like flippers. The Humpback have baleen bristles for sieving krill ( small shrimp like crustaceans ) which they feed on. However, while Humpbacks migrate they do not feed for approximately a period of five months.     

Whales are the largest creatures on the face of the earth. The Blue Whale can grow to 31 metres and 160 tonnes, This makes it the largest animal that has ever lived, dwarfing even dinosaurs. The Humpback Whale can grow to 16 metres and weigh as much 45 tonnes  ( the weight of 13 elephants or 680 people ).

Dolphins, porpoise and whales collectively are known as cetaceans which are not fish but warm blooded, air breathing mammals that give birth and nurse their young.

Humpbacks belong to a sub-group or family of whales known as the Rorquals. Rorquals have two characteristics in common: dorsal fins on their backs, and ventral pleats running from the tip of the lower jaw back to the belly area. The shape and color pattern on the Humpback Whales dorsal fin and flukes (tail) are as individual in each animal as are fingerprints in humans. The discovery of this interesting fact changed the course of cetacean research forever, and the new form of research known as photo-identification, in which individuals are identified, cataloged, and monitored, has led to valuable information about such things as Humpback population sizes, migration, sexual maturity, and behavior patterns.

Humpbacks are said to be, one of the most acrobatic of the species. They provide an awesome sight with their antics. The most frequently observed behavior is called the blow, which occurs when they exhale. Typically the whales head breaks the surface  of the water exposing the blow hole. Warm moisture -laden air from within its huge lungs  (each the size of a small car ) is exhaled at more than 450 km/ hr as the whale replenishes 95% of its lung capacity in two seconds. Warm air condenses in the cooler atmosphere condensing into water vapour. Often this is the first indication that there are whales in the area. As the whale surfaces it exposes its back and dorsal fin. As the whale then prepares to dive it arches its back, giving it a humped appearance and hence it he name Humpback. Finally the the whale may raise its tail flukes above the water exposing the under-side. The most spectacular of all is the breach, the whale actually leaps almost clear of the water and then returns with a spectacular splash. Humpbacks will often swim on their sides with one flipper raised in the air like a sail or swim on their backs  with both flippers exposed. Their flippers may be up to one third of their entire body length - no other whale species has such long pectorals.

Humpback whales travel to the warm waters off the Kimberley coast during the months of May-July to breed. Usually single calves are 4.5 - 5 metre long and weigh 1 -1.5 tonnes. They gain weight rapidly during their first months staying close to their mothers. After 12 months the calves have grown to 8 metres and are independent. Being mammals, Humpback Whales suckle their young and the female can produce 600 litres of milk each day. The Humpback takes up to tonne of food per day when feeding in the Antarctic waters during summer.

Only male Humpback Whales apparently sing. The whales have no vocal cords and therefore do not make sounds as we do; instead air is moved through the body passages to produce sound. It is interesting to note that each years song is different from the previous year. Humpbacks can communicate with each other over great distances under water and travel in groups called pods.

The Southern Right Whale

The Southern Right Whale, Balaena australis, is one of the large Great Whales , weighing up to 80 tonne and reaching 18 metres in length, about the same size as a bus.

They were named Right Whales by the early whalers who found that these whales were easily harpooned because they swam slowly and floated after death rather than sinking as some other whales were inclined to do.  They also provided the whalers  with long, fine whalebone and much oil from their very thick blubber and so were considered the right  whales to hunt.

The skin of a Southern Right Whale is usually smooth and black with a distinctive pattern of rough, whitish lumps on its head or bonnet. These whitish lumps are known as calosites, consist of raised and roughened patches of tough hair usually infested with parasitic worms , whale lice and barnacles. They are really the whales hair, eyebrows and even moustache! They may work as splash deflectors, keeping water away from the whales blowhole, and can be used as aggressive scrapers by males during courtship, to warn rivals away from the desired female. In any case, the number, size and arrangement of callosites are unique to each Southern Right, just like human finger prints, so that each whale can be  identified from the pattern of callosites on its bonnet. 

Unlike most whales, the southern Right whale does not have a dorsal fin so that when this whale dives or is swimming along, only the straight line of its smooth back can be seen. And when it surfaces to breathe, its distinctive spout is seen only briefly as a thin v-shaped mist from the twin nostrils of its blowhole.

Unfortunately the Southern Right was hunted to the edge of extinction during the last century but is now  protected and is making a comeback in Albany waters. Its numbers are increasing and many of these magnificent creatures are seen off the coast of  Albany during winter each year. However the Southern Right is still considered a rare and endangered creature. It is estimated that there are still only 3,000 Southern Right Whales world-wide down from an original ancestral population, before whaling days, of 100,000 animals. Therefore, it is really a privilege to be able observe these creatures at close quarters, considering that just a short time ago they were on the brink of extinction on the Albany coast. 

Be sure to look in our "latest news" link , to read about latest whale sightings in Albany.