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Published: August 10th 2014
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Pildappa Rock to The Head of Bight
After a fantastic camp at Pildappa Rock we headed off for our last stop in Ceduna before seeing the Whales at Head of Bight (HOB). As much as we like Ceduna, all we wanted to do was fill up with fuel to ensure we could make the 700plus Klm round trip to HOB without filling up at Nullarbor Roadhouse at “Nullarbor” pricing. We will stay in Ceduna on our way back, so watch for the next Blog.
3 hours later we turn left off the Eyre Highway and through the gates to HOB, yep we are excited, the sign on the gate says there are 170 whales in the bay. 12 klm down the road we pull up in the carpark and head off to pay our entrance fee and set ourselves up for an afternoon of whale watching. Because you cannot overnight at the HOB centre we drove out that night to the end of their driveway and camped outside the gates so that we could come back in the following day. This was a great move as it probably saved a couple of hours travel and the associated fuel required
HOB
Viewing boardwalks to get to a campsite, albeit a great one, above the Bunda Cliffs.
I need to tell you a little about the Southern Right Whale and I see no reason to invent the wheel so will ‘borrow’ some information from the Govt of South Australia (Department of Environment and Sustainability) and intermingle their info with my own, I trust they will not mind and accept this acknowledgement!
Southern Right Whales are an endangered species despite their numbers increasing 7-8% per year. This is because they were the ‘right’ whale to hunt. Australia is the winter home to around 2,500 of the estimated 15,000 remaining worldwide, a fraction of the number that existed prior to whaling. The HOB is a critical gathering area for the whales with up to half of the Australian population using the area. HOB is one of the three largest breeding areas along the Australian coast and is one of the best places in the world to see the whales.
I guess you are wondering, as we did, why the Southern Right Whales visit the HOB each year? I hope so because I am going to tell you anyway! These beautiful (maybe not the
HOB
Boardwalks along cliffs, with a mother and calf cruising below. best words...I will tell you why later!) creatures return to the HOB each year in search of warmer waters to breed, give birth and nurse their young. They start arriving in May and socialise (as you do on holidays) before departing again in late September. In June and July most of the whales you will see here are Adults, by August you commonly see mothers swimming along the cliffs with their young calves at their side. We were lucky enough to see these massive 80 tonne mammals mating, groups rolling around on the surface with lots of ‘action’ and vocalisation….fantastic. And of course, we saw lots and lots of mothers with their young….very memorable and beautiful. The calves suckle on the thick, rich milk, drinking around 200 litres every day & gaining about 90 kg per day. Come spring they are big enough and strong enough to accompany their mothers for their long journey back to their sub-Antarctic feeding grounds. For the time they are at HOB the mothers do not feed, quite simply there is nothing here for them to eat and as a result they can loose up to a third of their weight whilst on ‘holiday’ here.
Southern Right Whale
Mother and calf showing the distinctive "V" blow from the twin blowholes on mum. An adult whale can grow to 18 mtrs in length and as mentioned, weigh up to 80 tonne – you could compare them to the size of a double decker bus! They are so big that we saw swells breaking over them, like a reef. The swell just did not move them at all.
Beautiful to look at… absolutely, but maybe only in the eye of this beholder! They do not have a dorsal fin, like most other whales, and they have a broad tail with flukes that form a wide triangle with a notch in the middle. The tail can have a breadth of 5 mtrs! Southern Right Whales are also uniquely distinguishable by their “V” shaped blow, created by their two separate blowholes. Southern Right Whales can be individually identified by their different coloured skin patterns and their unique ‘callosities’ on their bonnet, side of head and mouth, above their eyes, and down their back towards their blowholes. The callosities are thick patches of hardened white skin which are covered in whale lice.
Southern Right Whales are baleen whales, meaning they have no teeth. Instead they have large baleen plates which act as a filter
for the enormous amount of plankton which is consumed.
Southern Right Whales were considered the ‘right whale to hunt’ because they came close to shore, float when dead, and yield many barrels of oil. By 1845 they were nearing extinction due to hunting, and in 1872 the whaling station at Victor Harbour, SA, was closed due to the cost of getting the last few whales. In 1931 they were protected in SA waters, and Internationally protected by the League of Nations in 1935. In 1978, all whaling ceased in Australian waters with the closure of the last whaling station in Albany WA. (see our previous Blog ‘Albany’).
We spent two days at HOB with these beautiful creatures, observing them basking, playing, mating, nurturing and loving their young, a true life experience and a big tick off the bucket list and I don’t hesitate in asking our Japanese friends…….WHY?.... Research! Really !!!
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Matt
non-member comment
Yay! Well done guys! You made it and you saw so many whales!