Migaloo (White Whale) Sighted Heading South
*8^th September 2007 8pm *
Migaloo (White Whale)
Sighted Heading South
Following reports from northern NSW
whale watchers, it seems Migaloo or
'white fella' the
only known pure white Humpback whale is heading south
again.
Depending on the speed that he averages over
the next 40 hours, we may
see him pass Sydney sometime
between 8am Sunday the 9^th of September
and at the
latest sometime Wednesday the 12^th .
The current
migration path for whales heading south is approximately 3-6
nautical miles to sea off Sydney heads and many whales
can just be seen
from shore at this distance, with
patience and a good set of binoculars.
Migaloo is fairly
easy to spot as he tends to glow a light aqua colour
when just near the surface.
However the best place to
see him will be from a vessel. Over the next 4
days
whale watching tours on board our vessel Ocean Dreaming will
be on
the lookout for the elusive white whale.
The
Humpback Whale southern migration is in full swing with over
25
whales spotted today(Saturday the 8th) passing south.
The return
migration continues well into December with
September and October the
peak time for the large males
and females without a newborn calf.
These groups will
follow strongest part of the East Australian Current
as
it ebbs and flows south. This strong current line is
sometimes within
1/2 mile of the coast and other times
moves out to as much as 20 miles
east. Lucky for
Sydneysiders it is currently within 5 Nautical miles of
the coast, allowing whales such as Migaloo to be spotted
from shore even
though at a large distance.
We believe
Migaloo passed Sydney heading north sometime early June
between the 9^th and 15^th during the heavy storms that
hit the NSW
coast at that time.
For more updates
please visit our web site. whalewatchingsydney.net or
contact our
office.
###