Ningaloo

July 28, 2014

At midnight when I come on watch we are abeam Amherst Point, the southern part of Ningaloo Reef.  From the southern extent, this part fringing and part barrier reef extends northwards 240 km, wrapping around and into Exmouth Gulf at Bundegi.  Ningaloo Reef paralleling Cape Range National Park is another jewel in WA’s crown, especially well-known for the whale sharks that visit during the winter months.  The topside vistas are beautiful, particularly in the gorges and stunning beaches of the park but many people believe the real beauty lies beneath the surface.  Having spent almost ten years in this region, we are privileged to have spent a good amount underwater.  At three years of age, both our girls were competent snorkelers, learning this skill at Tandabiddi, a wonderful spot on Ningaloo Reef.  With great delight, I can recall many hours in the water with Micah and Tasmin checking out the stunning coral bommies and their residents including turtles, thresher sharks, black-tip reef sharks and myriads of reef fish.

The waves breaking on Ninglaoo Reef with Cape Range beyond, stunning scenery of the west side.

The stars are bright on a dark canvas sky and gazing overhead I thoroughly enjoyed the vista.  But I could also smell the lemon-scented acacias on the land, brought seaward by the south-easterly winds.  It feels like home when we are near these ranges.  Having spent so much time here, special places and times are lodged in my memory.  I love the early morning hues, the aqua sunlit lagoon at midday calling you in and the rusty red and pink colours of sunset on the range.  A sunny day at Ningaloo with all the wildlife is always a highlight on our journey north.

Soon we’ll be deploying the towed array, so to make sure we have clean propellers the film guys examined both with a pole-mounted GoPro.  Upon revision of the footage, Curt decided that they were both very clean and no buffing was required.   I was a little sad, as I was looking forward to a swim.  With Resty in the water to scrub the prop, I was keen to wipe the hull at the waterline – simply any excuse to dive in and feel the beautiful waters of Ningaloo.

Paralleling Cape Range for the whole day we were delighted to see many whales in the vicinity of the reef.  Pods of humpback whales were just popping up everywhere!  When you work many field seasons one after another, you develop funny habits.  At the beginning of each day we would often “order” what we would like to see that day, for instance, a breaching cow/calf or a dancing swordfish, you know, not common things!  At Ningaloo today, it felt as though we were going to our favourite restaurant and walking in the door requesting “the usual”!  Ningaloo served up “the usual”, being stacks of migrating and playful humpback whales!  Fantastic!  It is so nice to be back in our office again.  Our “between the two blues” office, that is.  With each day heading north our sightings are increasing.  We are once again with whales!!  Life is good!

Ningaloo, a tiny calf rides beside its’ mum in the clear blue water just outside the reef.

As we passed close to the reef at Tandabiddi I saw a large adult whale just quietly and calmly laying at the surface.  Peering through my camera lens, I looked very hard to see if it was a pregnant female.  A tiny calf popped up beside her, ‘Curt, we have a cow and calf, the calf is very little!’  The white and grey-toned calf bobbed and rolled beside its’ mum.  Its’ dorsal fin was mostly upright but still had a tiny bend to the left, remnants of the fetal fold whereby the dorsal fin is folded in utero.  The dorsal fin and the small size indicated this little tacker was less than a week and perhaps only around 5 days old!  The compact lightly-coloured body of the calf glowed turquoise in the water and together with mum’s white pigmentation (Type 2 Lateral Body Pigmentation being white almost all the way up her flanks) they were easy to see in the clear water right at the edge of the reef.  “We should call the calf Ningaloo!”, and so we did.  Ningaloo and mum feature on our datasheet and on my camera for today!

What life’s journey lies ahead for Ningaloo?  It is up to us to protect and ensure that the critical habitats for a humpback whale, their feeding grounds, breeding grounds, resting grounds and migratory corridors are life-sustaining for a humpback whale.

Still on a mission,

Mich