Close encounters with vessels and humans can cause the rare Southern Right Whales to expend precious energy budget on evasive maneuvers. Photo: Maree Jackson.
Illawarra whale watchers are being warned that getting too close to a rare gentle giant could land them in court.
The NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) has issued a strict Special Order creating a 500 m exclusion zone for all vessels around Southern Right Whales this season. Swimmers must also maintain a 100 m distance, while aircraft must stay 610 m away.
The restrictions will remain in place until the end of the breeding and calving season on 30 November.
The order follows a recent sighting of a mother and calf off Sydney, which drew crowds of curious boaters and locals.
Closer to home, last year a Southern Right Whale calf was unwittingly hit by a boat off Stanwell Park.
Southern Right Whales naturally attract crowds because they tend to rest near beaches and move slowly along the surface, making them easy to spot despite their rarity.
The Illawarra coastline from Stanwell Park down to Kiama and Gerringong features the exact mix of prominent headlands and shallow bays these whales prefer.
However, close encounters can be damaging. Data from the NPWS citizen science project Right Whale ID shows that even a single over enthusiastic swimmer can distress the animals.
The project, which has tracked individual whales by their unique white facial markings for six years, notes that these disruptions force the whales to expend vital energy budget on evasive manoeuvres.
To enforce the new rules, NPWS staff, partner organisations and the public will be gathering witness accounts of anyone breaching the boundaries, with violators facing fines or court appearances.
NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service marine wildlife project officer Andy Marshall said public cooperation was vital to helping the southeast Australian population recover.
“I would like to think that future generations will be able to see these incredible animals and be awed by them, in the same way we are today,” he said.
Unlike humpbacks, Southern Right Whale mothers and calves spend more than 90 per cent of their time in waters shallower than 20 m, often staying within 500 m of the shore.
While nursing, they conserve energy through a behaviour called “logging” – simply floating still at the surface for long periods.
Because of this, any large, slow-moving whale spotted close to an ocean beach could be a Southern Right Whale. However, telling one of the handful apart from the 40,000 humpbacks around the NSW coast is relatively straightforward.
Southern Right Whales are massive and broad, entirely lack a dorsal fin and feature a distinctive V-shaped blow when they exhale. They also have smooth, black, geometrically angular tails and rough white skin patches called callosities on their heads.
If you spot a Southern Right Whale, please report it immediately to the NPWS or ORRCA hotlines on 1300 072 757 (13000 PARKS) or (02) 9415 3333 so the Right Whale ID team can log the sighting.
Original Article published by Dione David on Region Illawarra.
