Earlier this week, there were reports of a mother and calf Southern Right Whale sighted off Christies Beach in the southern suburbs of Adelaide. As we hadn't seen any whaled this season, we decided to go and have a look.
The Southern Right Whale, Eubalaena australis, is a Baleen whale, and adults can weigh up to 23,000 Kg. They are migratory, and spend the summer in Antarctica, migrating to the southern coast of Australia in our winter to calve, before returning to the Antarctic in autumn.
Our first view was from a lookout to the south, and after a few minutes we picked up the adult around a kilometre away.
We were looking into the sun, so after watching it for a while we decided to move closer, and get better light for photography. There was a large crowd watching them, but everyone was considerate and abiding by social distancing requirements in these strange times we now live in.
The adult was pretty easy to see and was slowly traveling north, regularly surfacing. as it turned away from the beach, you got a better idea of the size of these majestic creatures.
The calf was not so easy to see, always staying close to mum. I did manage a few shots with the calf in view.
