BIOLOGY - Whales flood Narooma
“It’s the best whale season on record!” says Mark Westwood from the Narooma (NSW) office of the National Parks and Wildlife Service, “and it’s not over yet.”
Westward described the season so far as “awesome. I’ve never seen so many whales. On some days we have literally seen hundreds of whales pass by Montague Island Nature Reserve.
“Only yesterday, we could see six separate pods around the island at the same time and all of them were performing acrobatics. It was amazing!” he said.
Westward said he put the increased numbers down partly to the cold currents bringing the food in. “… so they are hanging around,” he adds.
“We are now seeing the mothers and calves starting to come through, often quite close inshore. We’ve got maybe another six weeks of the season to go. Right now you can’t miss seeing them; there are so many travelling right along the Far South Coast,” he said.
— Photos by Stuart Cohen.