With a chance to assist a Dwarf Minke Whale research project in July 2013 run by Marine Eye-to Eye Encounters, “JR” John Rumney and Dr Alistair Birtles from James Cook University, CWR’s Team had an unique experience with these incredible small cetaceans!
Ribbon 10 Reef in the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) is the only known, predictable location in the world visited by dwarf minke whales for about 2 months each year. It’s believed this aggregation inside Australia’s iconic GBR is for socialising and mating during this winter period in the northern tropics..
With up to 38 kts of SE wind howling over the waters surface, raining pummelling the snorkellers heads and blissful rainbows arching across the sky, Dr Birtles and his collaborating team (including “JR”, Prof Russ Andrews and PhD student Jimmy White), collected in-water photo-ID and behavioural observations. The aim of this short project was to attach satellite-tags to understand where these whales go during the other 10 months of each year. Using JR’s swim-with-whales permit, and adhering to the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA) guidelines of holding the floating line attached to the stern of RV Whale Song with these in-water marine mammal interactions, at opportune moments, 4 satellite tags were deployed the dorsal fins of 4 dwarf minke whales to learn of their previously unknown migratory movements.
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- Minke Pass. ‘I am lookin’ at you, lookin’ at me!’ Photo: W & P Osborn
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- Whoosh! With blowholes open, this minke whale exhales/inhales close to RV Whale Song! Photo: W & P Osborn
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- Fabulous Flukes. How simply beautiful are these flukes? Photo: W & P Osborn
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- Left Flank Pass of Bento. Showing the left side, this dwarf minke whale so-named for its slightly bent dorsal fin is highly recognizable by Alistair’s research team at The Minke Whale Project. Photo: W & P Osborn
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- Ready, Set, Blow. In a split second the two blowholes will open in an exhalation/inhalation surfacing. Timing is everything! Photo: M. Jenner AM
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- White Pectoral Fins. As distinct from Antarctic minke whales, dwarf minke whales have white bands on their pectoral fins and a white shoulder blaze garnering, as yet, subspecies status, Balaenoptera acutorostrata subsp. Photo: W & P. Osborn
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- Making for the Surface. These fine, small baleen whales possess no less than 10 uniquely beautiful body patterns. Photo: W & P. Osborn
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- Head Shot. Note the sleek upper jaw, the tightly closed blowholes, the identifiable 2-lined pattern extending behind the blowholes and the white markings on the pectoral fins and shoulder. Interestingly, check out its pectoral fin orientations – just like flaps on the flying surfaces of a plane, the fins are clearly used for fine scale maneuvering. Photo: W & P. Osborn
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- Hairy Minke. On the upper jaw note the three small indentations – these are hair cells. This is as hairy as a dwarf minke whale gets! Not much of an annual barber bill required! Photo: W & P. Osborn
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- Sleek and Curious. During June/July each year, a predictable aggregation of dwarf minke whales occurs at the Ribbon Reefs within the Great Barrier Reef. The researchers believe they gather to socialize and mate in the warm waters of the GBR. Is this a dwarf minke whale Ibiza? Photo: W & P. Osborn
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- Body Stripes. With body coloration patterns in distinct regions, scars, like these 2 parallel marks (from conspecific interactions), also join the whale’s markings. Photo: W & P. Osborn
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- Wow, Look at You! Resplendent in form, shape and style – these dwarf minke whales are just so beautiful! Photo: W & P. Osborn
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- White Lower Jaw. The variations of pigmentation within the 10 body patterns are remarkable. These differences allow the researchers to gather case histories of individuals across decades. Photo: W & P. Osborn
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- We Have Seen You Already Today! From the blowholes, those 2 white markings extending posteriorly are very recognizable. Photo: W & P. Osborn
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- Eye to Eye. Experiencing the inquisitive gaze of a wild cetacean is life changing. This spurs us on to Protect our Oceans, Save our Seas and Secure Protection for the Sentient Beings Within. Photo: W & P. Osborn
You can also read the daily posts written about this dwarf minke whale project at the links below: