These two talented photographers will receive a whale watching tour as First Prizes, plus Whale Trust merchandise. Gowings Whale Trust received many wonderful whale photographs for their 2022 Whale Watching competition. Thank you to everyone who entered.

Coffs Harbour Winner

Ash McMurrich submitted a close-up photograph of a large, female humpback whale, captured while on a whale watching trip with Jetty Dive, in the Solitary Islands area. The image feels intimate, conveying the gentle nature and curiosity of the whale.

A Wild Whale Encounter

Ash told us, ‘We were so lucky that day. The whale ‘spy-hopped’ the Jetty Dive boat. Spy-hopping is when they poke one eye out of the water and check you out. She kept coming up to look at us, each time drawing a little closer. She came right up to the boat. It was amazing!’

Ash snapped off his winning shot and then gave his camera over to his three children, Ava (12), Lily (almost 10) and Austin (7). They took it in turns to photograph the beautiful whale as she ‘mugged’ the boat. Mugging is when the whale interacts closely with whale watchers, over an extended period. The McMurrich family enjoyed 40 minutes of mugging!

‘And she looked like she was enjoying interacting with us,’ said Ash. ‘We could hear her breathing, through her blowhole. The kids were so excited. After they took a few shots each we got them to put the camera down and watch, really be in the moment.’

Ash reports that their whale was joined by friends, who communicated with her from about 100m away by leaping and tail slapping. Each showed a different attitude with this non-verbal communication. Then the whales formed a pod and swam away.

Port Macquarie Winner

Peter Rogers’ spectacular photograph captures the power and magic of the whale in its ocean environment. All the elements of animal, light and water align in this one, awe-inspiring moment.

Peter says of his shot, ‘We had a great day out with Jody from Port Jet. She really knows what she is doing. I took a few shots and hoped I’d caught something special. I got home that evening and thought yep, got something there.’

Second Prize: Port Macquarie

Did we mention that the competition was fierce? Second prize for Port is awarded to Courtenay Davies for her lonely whale image. This extreme wide-angle shot expresses the wildness of the whale in the vast ocean. The whale’s form is perfectly surrounded by the sea spray as it leaps from the sea. This communicates the magic of the whale in its natural environment and the magic of this world that we share with them.

Second Prize: Coffs Harbour

Goes to… Kathy Brown! The GWT Photo Competition criteria asked for creativity and this shot shows great artistry. The sea looks soft and inviting, in gentle shades of blue, contrasting with the raw, bright energy of the whale breaching. The clarity of the white flipper sets a carefree, jubilant tone to the image, balanced by the sea bird in the sky. A gorgeous shot.

Kathy is an avid wildlife photographer, and passionate environmentalist. As are all our entrants. It is difficult to come so close to humpback whales without being moved.

Why Whales Are Important

The emotional impact of engaging with whales was what started the Gowings Whale Trust, when avid surfer and businessman, John Gowing, went diving with whales in Samoa. He was awestruck by their majesty, forming the Whale Trust to encourage others to learn about the importance of whales to the survival of us all.

Junior Winners

So too were our young winners of the Junior section: Ava, Lily and Austin McMurrich, from Coffs; and Shelby Coaker (aged 10). Ava’s entry is energy packed, while Austin’s shows the whale tail against the landscape.

The kids found their whale encounter thrilling. The photographs they took were used at their school to share and stimulate a discussion about the importance of protecting whales and their environment.

Take 3 For The Sea

Shelby Coaker lives in Victoria, but her family had taken time out to travel around Australia. A ‘half-lap’ her mum, Courtenay says, through central Australia then down the east coast. Courtenay describes Shelby as an avid environmentalist, who always takes a bucket and tongs to the beach to clean up.

‘She gets really angry at people who litter,’ says Courtenay. Good on you Shelby – we need young environmentalists like you to keep us caring. Learn more at Take 3 for the Sea.

Love Those Whales!

We loved receiving all the amazing photographs for this competition. Thank you to everyone who entered. Please keep sending us your whale images and stories and we’ll publish them on the Gowings Whale Trust website.

The post Whale Comp Winners Announced appeared first on Coastbeat.

Whale Superhighways

These routes have become known as ‘whale superhighways’. Many marine scientists believe that the route is as important as the end destination. This is why it is important to lobby for whale protection while enroute.

Whale Endangered, Still

However, an article in The Conversation by marine scientists Ryan Reisinger, Ari Friedlaender and Daniel M. Palacios reports that even 26 years after the end of whaling in most countries (except Japan and Iceland), six out of the 13 largest whale species are still either endangered or vulnerable (International Union for Conservation of Nature).

Whales face multiple human-created dangers as they cross the oceans: net entanglement, chemical and plastic pollution, climate change reducing krill numbers and impact from boats. And of course those shameful nations still hunting these beautiful creatures. Some believe that the noise we humans are making drilling for oil and gas is also impacting negatively on whale migration.

Marine Protection Areas

Many countries uphold marine protection areas, but these cover less than 8% of the ocean. Much of the migration is in the high seas, where only 1.2% of the ocean is under some form of protection.

The authors of The Conversation article call for countries to form a cohesive plan to protect whales, like the existing Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals. Under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, countries have rights to fish and pursue other activities in 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zones (EEZ) extending from their coastlines. The WWF report showed that 367 humpback whales tracked by satellite in the southern hemisphere together traversed the EEZs of 28 countries during their migrations. Only countries designating marine protected areas within their EEZs can help conserve vital marine habitats.

The lack of a comprehensive and cohesive plan to protect whales in the high seas and across all EEZs makes whales vulnerable. The United Nations is endeavouring to find a solution. In 2017 member countries began negotiations to create a treaty for the protection of migrating whales. The fourth and final session of these negotiations took place in New York on March 7-18.

What Can We Do?

Lobbying the UN is mostly the work of governments and environmental organisations like Sea Shepherd and WWF. However, you can lobby your local member or email the current Australian Minister for the Environment, Tanya Plibersek.

In the meantime, we can all actively assist in protecting these magnificent marine mammals with some simple measures your great-grandma might have taught you:

• Recycle, reuse, repair Don’t ditch it, fix it! Keep your global footprint light.
• Donate to organisations like Sea Shepherd or
• Purchase Gowings Whale Trust merchandise, where 100% of the profits go to fund education about and protection of whales.

Love our images? Why not send us some of your own for a chance to win a whale watching tour and bags of Gowings Whale Trust merchandise. Thanks to The Conversation for their generosity in sharing their informative articles.

The post Whale Migration appeared first on Coastbeat.

Whales are renowned for the beauty of their song, yet there ability to hear underwater is all about the evolution of whale communication. As the humpback whales migrate north along our coastline they navigate and communicate with each other across kilometres. But how do they communicate so clearly underwater?

How Do Whales Hear Underwater?

Whales are mammals just like us, yet our underwater hearing is muffled and directionally confusing. Professor Tracey Rogers explains in this five-minute video that the whales’ ability to discern direction of sound underwater is thanks to the unique construction of whale ears, known as ‘auditory bulla’.

In fact, it is the auditory bulla that has led scientists to believe that whales evolved from a land mammal known as a pakicete. This hippo-like mammal was swimming in Earth’s waterways about 50 million years ago.

Hearing For Survival

When not underwater we rely on the audio reaching one ear first, thus communicating its direction. Through water, the sound reaches all of our body at the same time. We are about 65% water, after all. The sound goes straight through us, vibrating our skull. Not knowing where a sound is coming from is not a great survival asset as sound could indicate prey, or worse: a predator.

How Ears Work

Unlike cetaceans – dolphins and whales – our middle and inner ears are attached to our skull. They all vibrate together to register sound. As the techno-heads among us will know, that’s how the headphones known as Aeropex work. Cetaceans have evolved to have their middle and inner ears outside their skull, encased in the dense bone of the auditory bulla. By isolating the auditory bulla outside the skull, skull vibrations no longer affect hearing.

But how does the sound get to the bulla?

Dolphins have their auditory bulla attached to their lower jaw. The jaw is filled with fatty tissue that has the same density as water. So the sound travels through the water and along the fatty tissue to the bulla. As each bulla is isolated at the end of each jawbone sound will reach one side before the other, indicating direction.

What Are Pinna?

Ever put your ear to a seashell and heard the tiniest sounds amplified? For hearing folk this is a ritual of childhood. So it is no coincidence that auditory bulla are curved, like seashell. The shape assists in collecting the sound. For us, our protruding ears collect the sound – think the BFG or the Parkes Telescope. Ever heard someone call your ear your ‘shell-like’? The scientific name for this part of our hearing apparatus is the ‘pinna’.

But don’t get comfortable – hearing differs across marine mammals. Fur seals and sea lions have greatly reduced pinna. Seals have no pinna, just an ear opening used for life on land. When underwater the tissue around the seal’s ear canals swells to close off the opening.

How Do Humpbacks Hear?

Unlike dolphins, baleen whales don’t have the fatty tissue in their jaw. Their bulla are disconnected from their skull, but the ear canal leading to the auditory bulla are plugged with a waxy substance. However, the evolutionary selection for whales with auditory bulla was one of the earliest changes, from the pakicetes to what became whales as we know them today, indicating that hearing clearly underwater supported survival.

This evolutionary development has gifted us with the beautiful whale song. Isn’t nature amazing? Love those whales!

Visit Gowings Whale Trust for more great whale information. Enter your best whale shots into our Whale Watching competition and win a whale watching tour!

The post The Evolution of Whale Communication appeared first on Coastbeat.

Vanessa Pirotta, Macquarie University

This article repubished under Creative Commons, courtesy of The Conversation

Australians have watched in horror this week as two separate humpback whales were tangled up in Queensland shark nets on the same day. These put the number of whales caught in Queensland shark nets to four this season – that we know about.

Worryingly, most humpback whales migrating north from Antarctica haven’t even passed Sydney yet. With more whales travelling to the warm Queensland breeding waters, this probably won’t be the last shark net entanglement we’ll hear about this year.

I’ve seen the reality of whale entanglement in shark nets firsthand, when I studied a humpback whale calf who died in a shark net a few years back. The animal autopsy (necropsy) conducted later confirmed the animal drowned. It was terrible.

So what are shark nets exactly, and how do they harm animals?

Shark nets don’t just harm sharks

Whale entanglement in fishing gear is a global problem. In some cases nets – combined with other human-made threats such as ship collisions – limit the recovery of some whale populations since whale hunting ceased, including the North Atlantic right whale.

Fortunately, the number of Australian humpback whales has been growing post-whaling. In fact, Australia’s east coast humpback whale population has an estimated 40,000 individuals.

The bad news is, more whales means more potential interactions with humans and our fishing gear, such as shark nets.

Shark nets are dotted around Queensland to try to minimise shark interactions with swimmers. These nets are anchored by chain to the seafloor and are designed to capture sharks before they swim too close to the beach.

But the nets offer little protection. For one, they’re typically between 124 and 186 metres long, 6 metres deep and don’t cover the entire beach, which means sharks can easily swim around and under them.

Indeed, despite the use of shark nets and other shark control equipment (such as drumlines), new data released today shows the number of shark bites in Australia have actually increased since 1791. Scientists caution that we are yet to understand why.

Sadly, shark nets usually kill the sharks that swim into them as they’re unable to move. And as we’ve seen this week, these nets do not discriminate. Other marine life – turtles, dolphins as well as whales – get caught up in this problem, too.

What happens when a whale is entangled?

We don’t exactly know why whales become entangled. Whales are extremely curious mammals and may investigate these dangers as they migrate, but get too close. Another reason may be that whales and other animals might simply not see the danger, and swim into it.

It’s not just shark nets, though. Whales in Australian waters get tangled up in a range of fishing gear – lobster and crab pots, longlines, gillnets and ghost nets (discarded or previously-used gear).

Whale entanglement can be an extremely stressful experience. Often, we see whales thrashing at the surface trying to free themselves. This can make the situation worse and limit their movement even further.

Depending on the entanglement and gear type, some whales may be unable to surface for air, and drown.

Alternatively, some whales might manage to get partially free, but suffer long-term consequences from dragging the nets and ropes, which can cut into their blubber.

Over time, these wounds can become infected, restrict the movement of the whale, or both. This leaves them vulnerable to predators such as killer whales and sharks, or unable to dive and dodge vessels.

Can we use technology to stop entanglements?

The reality is no one wants entanglements. Humans don’t want it to happen and I’m sure an entangled whale doesn’t enjoy the experience. It’s an unintended consequence of our attempts to protect swimmers.

So, what can we do about it? Stop swimming in the ocean? Remove the nets? Or is new technology our only answer?

Some suggest removing Queensland’s shark nets during winter when whales make their annual migration. This has yet to take place. What’s more, people often swim year-round in Queensland’s warm ocean waters.

In contrast, shark nets in New South Wales are removed during the winter to avoid the main part of whale migration. They’re deployed again later in the year, from September 1, which overlaps only with the southward migration back to Antarctica.

In the meantime, we can continue to trial other options. One is using SMART drumlines for a more targeted approach to capture and relocate sharks.

This is where a baited hook is placed on an anchor with two buoys and an attached satellite (GPS) technology unit. Once a shark takes the bait and is captured, authorities are alerted and can respond quickly to tag and relocate the animal offshore, away from the area of concern.

Scientists can then use shark movement data from the tag to learn more about shark habitat use.

While this isn’t a solution to whale entanglement, it does reduce the amount of netting in the water compared to shark nets. It’s also a much better option for sharks.

The Queensland government has invested in shark-control technology called “catch alert drumlines”, which are a type of SMART drumline. Trials of their use began in 2021.

Drone surveillance has also been a complimentary shark monitoring tool on Queensland beaches.

What should you do if you see an entangled whale?

Whale disentanglement should never be attempted by the general public.

Disentangling a whale requires trained personnel, specialised gear and trained vessel operators. Even experts with years of disentangling experience have been killed helping free whales from nets.

Whales are big. When they’re stressed and exhausted, they pose a serious threat to humans. Instead, if you see a whale caught in gear at the beach, tell the appropriate people about it immediately.

Authorities, such as the Queensland Government (The Department of Environment and Science) or The Sea World Foundation are key contacts in Queensland.

Other options include ORRCA (NSW based, with coverage in Queensland), which can relay important information to the people best placed to help. Social media can also be a powerful tool to alert authorities.

Queensland whale rescue crews also remain on standby during whale migration season and can deploy trained personnel to respond to entanglements swiftly, weather permitting.

As the whale migration continues north, lets hope these recent entanglements continue to prompt timely discussion about shark nets in Queensland waters.

Vanessa Pirotta, Postdoctoral Researcher and Wildlife Scientist, Macquarie University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

The post Whale Entanglement appeared first on Coastbeat.

Whale Facts

1. Whales are the largest animals on Earth, ever.
2. The more that whales eat, the more they poo.
3. Whale poo is really, really big.
4. The effect of whale poo on the ocean is really, really big.

Whales act like the giant fertilisers of the ocean, said Vanessa Pirotta, a marine ecologist at Macquarie University.

‘Whales feed in one area and poo in another … so they can move huge amounts of biomass from one area to another,’ said Dr Pirotta.

Whale poo is rich in nutrients such as iron. These nutrients are suspended in the faeces at the ocean’s surface, which means they fuel blooms of microscopic phytoplankton. Phytoplankton is at the bottom of the food chain; they feed the smallest fish, which provide the bigger fish and so on, all the way up the food chain.

We humans, as apex predators, need phytoplankton.

Ocean Ecosystems

Some people refer to this as the iron pump,’ Dr Pirotta said, referring to the environmental cycle that nourishes us.

So, we need whale poo, lots of it, and Nicolas Pyenson of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History agrees. He is co-author of a new study published in the journal Nature that has, for the first time in history, put a figure on the amount whales eat and the importance of whales to our survival on this planet.

Tons. Well over three tons a day. More than all the all-you-can-eat buffets Homer Simpson ever encountered, put together. But these food fests are good for us all.

‘Our results say that if we restore whale populations to pre-whaling levels seen at the beginning of the 20th century, we’ll restore a huge amount of lost function to ocean ecosystems,’ Nicolas Pyenson says. ‘It may take a few decades to see the benefit, but it’s the clearest read yet about the massive role of large whales on our planet.’

Ambergris – Floating Gold

The second type of whale excretion is not as important but just as valuable to some—Ambergris – worth about $40,000 per kilo.

Marine scientists are unsure if ambergris qualifies as poo or vomit. They do know that it is a lumpy, waxy substance created in the gut of the blue whale. The wax coats the sharp and indigestible beaks of the squid that comprise a large part of the whale’s diet. The ambergris lump is expelled to float in the ocean until washed ashore. By then, it had lost all stinkiness and absorbed the delicious scent of the sea. And that is the magic of ambergris: the ability to absorb and hold aroma. This makes it worth more than gold to parfumiers.

Why Protection Is Important

However, ambergris is protected, and with good cause. Whales were hunted close to extinction in the 20th century. Countries like Japan and Norway still hunt whales for no good purpose, yet Iceland has suspended their whaling ‘industry’ because there is no viable market. Imagine the reaction of such unscrupulous operators to the idea of butchering a whale to retrieve ambergris?

Protecting whales from hunting, pollution, net entanglement and environmental degradation are why we have established the Gowings Whale Trust. Help us keep the poo pool full. Check out the full story at the ABC, with some fantastic images (not of poo).

And thanks to all the scientists searching for new ways to save our whales. Thank you for your valuable work and for giving us an excuse to mention poo 17 times in one story.

Poo.

18

Let’s make it a round 20?

Poo, poo.

Thank you:)

The post Living On Whale Poo appeared first on Coastbeat.

Diving In

Mike and Deb bought Jetty Dive in 1996. It had been a dive business since the early ’90s. The Davey’s took it further, expanding their fleet and adding retail and education elements to the business. Jetty Dive is now renowned internationally as a dive destination.

“The Coffs coast is a great place for whale watching'” says Mike. “The Coffs headlands jut out a fair way to sea, so the mums and calves can be really close to shore on their return trip.”

Why Whales Migrate

The Australian humpback migrates to the warmer north Queensland waters to give birth. This helps the calves survive. Baby whales are born without an insulating layer of blubber to protect them in their natural environment of icy Antarctica. So they spend months in warm Australian waters, bulking up on their mother’s fat-rich milk, before the 5,000km journey south.

However, during these months the mothers are enduring enforced starvation away from their food source of Antarctic krill. This is a time of vulnerability for the female humpbacks as they lose precious weight. In addition, they must negotiate numerous dangers to them and their calf, from net entanglement, water toxicity, ship collision and being hunted by the nations still carrying out this barbaric practice..

Are Whales Endangered?

The humpback whale has been removed from the Australian endangered species list. However, the threats to their survival are very real.

In the course of the last 20 years conducting whale watching tours, Mike Davey has seen the humpbacks increase in number. This is a direct affect of the international ban on whaling honoured by all countries except Japan, Iceland and Norway. Yet in the last few seasons Mike reports that whales have been harder to find. His own theory, which he hastens to repeat is just that, is that the whales have learnt to keep away from boats.

Meeting Migaloo

Indeed, whales are clever and can be elusive, as so many great narratives like Moby Dick attest to. Mike was one of the lucky people to see the famous white whale Migaloo, back in July of 2017. He spotted the whale off Sawtell headland and followed it as it headed north, staying at least 500 metres away at all times.

“Some of the whales get hounded,’ Mike explains. “Migaloo was one of those, so we made sure to keep well away.”

This was one of the reasons he did not venture out to follow the young white whale spotted off the east coast in June 2020. And for a much more pragmatic reason.

“A white whale is difficult to see in the water,” he says, with a laugh. “And they don’t photograph as well.”

Whale Watching

Jokes aside, Mike is adamant about respecting the rules regarding proximity during whale watching, going no closer than 100 metres at the side of any whale or 300 metres from females with calves. Stress makes a whale vulnerable and as we mentioned above, many of the female humpbacks have not eaten for months. We all know that skipping meals makes a mammal edgy. Hangry humpbacks? Not good.

“But they are curious creatures,” says Mike. “When we spot a whale we turn off the engines and wait. Often the whale comes to us. And if we are really lucky we get mugged.”

Mugging is when the whale comes really close to play with the boat. Check out our footage of being mugged off the coast of Byron bay. It was thrilling.

In the course of their work the Daveys experience firsthand the beauty and fragility of the marine environment. They are keen to educate anyone who visits them, offering comprehensive information about the Solitary Islands Marine Park. They also support marine protection charities like the Gowings Whale Trust.

If you would like to experience a Jetty Dive Whale watching tour, why not enter the GWT Whale Watching Photography Competition? Send in your best whale photo and you could win a whale watching trip and or fab GWT merchandise.

The post Focus On: Jetty Dive appeared first on Coastbeat.

Whale Watching

Have you seen a whale in the last week or so? Stand on any Australian east coast shoreline long enough and you will. They are wonderful to watch, breaching, slapping their mighty tails, leaping high above the waves as effortlessly as any aerial acrobat. Yet these marine mammals can weigh up to 30,000 kilograms and grow as long as 30 metres. They are the biggest animals on Earth, ever. It takes a lot of food to maintain that weight!

Humpback whales consume 5% to 30% of their body mass in krill, an estimation that is three times what scientists have previously believed, according to the article authors.

The beneficial impact on the marine ecosystem of this consumption and subsequent waste excretion, is immense. Even better, its influence is growing every year as whale numbers start to recover from the cessation of whaling (in all countries except Japan, Norway and Iceland).

A Whale-led Recovery?

“Our results say that if we restore whale populations to pre-whaling levels seen at the beginning of the 20th century, we’ll restore a huge amount of lost function to ocean ecosystems,” said study co-author Nicolas Pyenson of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.

“It may take a few decades to see the benefit, but it’s the clearest read yet about the massive role of large whales on our planet.”

If one were to bastardise Newton’s Third Law, that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction, you may begin to get our drift. In this case, veritable islands of whale excretion drifting through the oceans, like floating fertiliser.

The Life Cycle of Whale Poo

The whale ingests tons of krill during its feeding season and then excretes a similar amount of faeces as it migrates. Whale poo is rich in nutrients, especially iron, which makes them like the giant fertilisers of the ocean, according to Dr Vanessa Pirotta, a marine ecologist at Macquarie University.

‘Whales feed in one area, and poo in another … so they are able to move huge amounts of biomass from one area to another,’ said Dr Pirotta.

These nutrients are suspended in the poo at the surface of the ocean, where they fuel blooms of microscopic phytoplankton. Phytoplankton are at the bottom of the food chain. They feed the smallest fish, which feed the bigger fish and so on, all the way up the food chain to us.

We need whale poo, so we need whales. Lots of them.

Supersize Me, Please

Thus it is obvious that the rising whale population is good news for more than just the tourist industry. The article authors believe that in the Southern Ocean alone, pre-whaling populations of baleen whales ‘annually consumed 430 million tons of Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba), twice the current estimated total biomass of E. superba, and more than twice the global catch of marine fisheries today.’

That is a lot of fertiliser that was taken away when the whales were all but wiped out by whaling. Restoring the baleen whale population and their ‘nutrient recycling services’ could augment productivity and restore ecosystem function lost during 20th century whaling. That’s a more Earth-changing influence than every Kardashian rolled into one.

Why Are We Sharing This?

Gowings Whale Trust is a NFP organisation dedicated to raising awareness of the importance of marine mammals, particularly whales. We partner with environmental groups like Sea Shepherd and businesses like FCS, to fund the activism that protects marine life.

And we just love whales. What’s not to love?

If you do too, help us help the whales by donating, or entering your best whale shot in our Whale Watching Photo Competition.

The post Who Are the Biggest Influencers on Earth? appeared first on Coastbeat.

Food and love is why. Humpback whales migrate to the warm waters of Far North Queensland in order to birth their calves. They stay until the calves are fat enough to return to their cold Antarctic home. Size is important for their survival, as Professor Tracey Rogers explains in this entertaining and informative video.

Whale Watching 2022

Anyone looking out to sea in northern NSW right now should be able to spot a passing humpback, as it breaches, leaps, splashes and plays. The east coast of Australia is one of the best places in the world for watching these magnificent marine mammals migrate from the cold waters of Antarctica to the warmth of FNQ. But it’s neither holiday nor health resort – it’s mother love.

Kinder for Whales

FNQ is a humpback nursery. Once the whales reach warmer waters the females give birth and the calves spend the next year enjoying a diet made up exclusively of whale milk smoothie. Professor Rogers calls it simply ‘whale milk’, but with a consistency like toothpaste and a 40% fat content ‘smoothie’ seems apt.

However, while they are away birthing and feeding their calves the humpback females are without food. It’s a 5,000km trip from Antarctica to FNQ and a long way from the humpbacks’ staple diet of krill, a small crustacean found in the icy waters of Antarctica. That is why it is crucial to the survival of humpback whales that they are able to gorge themselves on krill before they travel.

Survival of the Fattest

It takes a lot of energy to keep your body warm in Antarctica. You or I would fail, but humpbacks have adapted to the conditions, carrying a layer of thick fat, called blubber, which insulates against the cold. Whale calves arrive without this layer, so it’s important that they are born into warm waters where they can feed from their mother’s fat-rich milk and bulk up.

Hence the arduous trip to sunny Queensland. By the same token, the female whales need to preserve their energy while fasting and feeding their calf, to survive and make the long journey back to Antarctica.

The Dark Past of Whaling

Whale survival has a dark past. As recently as the 1980s the world humpback whale population had been hunted almost to extinction, from around 30,000 creatures to just a few hundred. This dramatic depletion of the whale population made the whole industry financially nonviable – a rare win for economic rationalism. Now, thanks to international laws banning whaling, the humpback population is growing by up to 11% per year, which is wonderful for baby calves and the thriving tourist industry of whale watching.

Here at Gowings Whale Trust we down tools daily to go watch the whales as they migrate along the gorgeous Coffs coast, between the months of June and October. The whales are playful, majestic, enchanting, and we are lucky to be born in a time when we can bear witness to the magic of these marine mammals.

But not all whales are as lucky as the Australian humpbacks. Many are still endangered and many are still hunted, by countries that disregard international anti-whaling regulations, like Japan. And all of our marine mammals are threatened by the environmental degradation of the oceans, through chemical and plastic pollution, net entanglement and over-fishing.

Our Last Chance

The world whale population has come to the brink of extinction once already in our lifetime. We must not let it happen again. If we want our grandchildren to experience the wonder of the marine world we need to act now. But how? There are many NFP organisations fighting to protect marine environments and creatures. Gowings Whale Trust supports environmental protectors like the Sea Shepherd organisation, who regularly risk their lives to stand between the whales and the hunters. Follow the link below for more compelling videos of their campaign, in ‘The Whale Wars – surrounded by spies’.

We also partner with Ocean Warriors, the marine arm of the Byron Bay Wildlife Hospital. You can catch up with what the team at Byron Bay Wildlife Hospital are up to in their new Channel 10 series.

Are you an avid whale watcher with a whale photo of your own? Submit it to our Whale Watching competition to win a whale watching trip and bags of merch.

The post Why Do Whales Migrate? appeared first on Coastbeat.

1. Know Your Subject

Understanding the nature and habits of the marine creature you are photographing is the place to start. Matty’s award winning shot is of that magnificent underwater predator, the great white shark.

Matty specialises in what are called ‘over-under’ shots. That is, the lens cutting the surface of the water to show above and below the surface. The effect creates a connection between the human point-of-view above the water and the marine creature below the water. It’s like being given an insider glimpse of their world, a privileged peek below the surface. However, when it is of a great white shark, all the human fears of attack are captured in an image that makes the viewer feel both vulnerable and fascinated.

Yet Matty offers a different view on his subject.

“I needed, most importantly, a non-aggressive yet curious shark,” Matty says, revealing his understanding that a great white is more than an aggressive killer. His research took him to the North Neptune Islands off the south coast of Australia. There the elements aligned for him: calm, clear water and a curious shark. Matty describes it, surprisingly, as, “A very charismatic and calm shark”. Who’d have thought!

2. A Reliable Camera

Of course, this is a no-brainer. There is considerable commitment involved in wildlife photography which your tech must support. After research, travel and set-up the last thing you want to happen is for your camera to fail.

“Nikon has never let me down,” says Matty. Attached to his Nikon DSLR camera body he favours the Nikon 14-24mm f2.8 S lens. This is one of the lightest zoom lenses of its size, which is convenient for lugging to location. It boasts clarity and sharpness across the breadth of the lens.

Nikon is an expensive brand favoured by many professional photographers. Yet expense need not prohibit you from taking a great shot. For the amateur enthusiast, being in the right place at the right time can be enough. This means research and commitment. Having a trusty camera that you know how to use to get a sharp, well-lit image, will serve you just as well as a top-of-the-range product.

3. Make It Your Own

This is what we are interested in for the Gowings Whale Trust whale watching competition. We want to see your take on the magnificent humpback whale in its natural environment.

For Matty Smith, this means his over-under technique. His first major break came in 2014 when he used this technique to produce a stunning and original portfolio featuring the Pacific Man of War bluebottle. This collection won him the Australian Geographic Nature Shot of the Year and Wildlife Photographer of the Year; plus first, second and third place in Ocean Geographic Photo of the Year. These awards helped him gain a Nikon sponsorship. He was invited to lecture, teach and shoot all around the world, taking his fulltime hobby to a fulltime career.

However, there is more to Matty’s creative prowess than this technique. To achieve a clear over-under shot he designed and constructed his own underwater housing accessories to compliment his Aquatica Digital Housing. The winning underwater shark shot was taken with his own 12″ waterproof domeport, carrying a pole-mounted mirrorless Nikon camera. Matty specialises in constructing underwater housings and credits his technical innovation with pushing his photography to a higher level.

Yet these techniques are just a part of Matty’s brilliance. Importantly, his shots are luminous, clear and beautifully composed in glowing colours, skilfully balancing light and dark. Matty’s framing and shot selection are as important as the over-under technique.

Take Your Best Shot

Crucially, making it your own means making your image a representation of how you see things. The camera is just an extension of your own vision. Matty believes that a successful shot is well planned. Make sure your weather conditions are suitable and find the best vantage point. Make sure the tide is right, the water clear and the sun is in the best position to illuminate your shot without glare. Planning a perfect shot for Matty can take days, even weeks.

“You can’t control nature. Focus on what you can control, on what you want. Do everything you can to set up the shot,” he says.

A Picture of Pollution

Of course, it is important that the water contain healthy creatures to be photographed. Over 10 years of underwater photographs Matty has noticed more pollution, destroying the ocean environment.

“You can tell if it’s not a marine parkland. The big megafauna are very, very hard to find.”

Indeed, there is a noticeable difference across all species, as organisations like Greenpeace are reporting. Despite exponential coral bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef, there are still some areas of healthy coral. This is in stark contrast to reefs in countries where there are fewer marine parklands. Yet we must heed the warnings and protect our reef, knowing that ocean environments all over the world are struggling.

What Can I Do?

You can help by supporting environmental activists campaigning to save our marine environments, like Sea Shepherd, Greenpeace and WWF. Many dive organisations, like PADI, are also joining the campaign to save our oceans. Surf brands are getting on board with ocean environmentalism. GWT sponsor, international surf hardware manufacturer FCS, donates 1% of all their sales to the Gowings Whale Trust.

Listen to what Matty Smith has to say about his winning underwater photograph and visit his website to check out other images and his workshops.

Enter your own whale photo in the GWT Whale Watching Photo Competition and win fab prizes!

The post Focus on Matty Smith appeared first on Coastbeat.

In 2021, the Gowings Whale Trust purchased a Plastic Collective Shruder Recycling Centre for the MiiMi Aboriginal Corporation, in Bowraville NSW. Since then, Plastic Collective CEO Louise Hardman has been training the MiiMi Rangers to use the Shruder for plastic reclamation. An environmental innovator, Louise Hardman has established similar projects all over the world. However, as an scientist concerned about plastic in the waterways, this project is close to home and her heart.

In the future Louise and the Bowraville crew hope to manufacture from the recycled plastics MiiMi creates, repurposing plastic refuse as a recycled material of value.

We spoke to MiiMi manager, Aunty Patricia Walker. She reports that the Rangers are trained and crushing it…bad pun, sorry.

The MiiMi crew have been cleaning up the waterways of the Nambucca River, helping the Nambucca oyster farmers get rid of barrels and other plastic items wrecked by the floods. After the plastic waste is cleared from the environment, the Rangers take it to their recycling centre in Bowraville to be sorted into plastic types. And there are so many!

A PhD In Plastic?

Understanding the diverse chemistry of plastic is a career in itself. Put simply, hard plastics like the blue oyster barrels, milk cartons, drink bottles and any other object that holds a rigid shape, are sorted into different resin types. Generally, polyethylene is used for packaging, while polypropylene is popular for automotive parts. To make a surfboard fin you might want to use polypropylene, or the stronger nylon.

After sorting, the plastics are fed into the Granulator. This produces plastic shred, or granules, which are sold to manufacturers like Port Plastics in Port Macquarie. From this extruded and injection molding can make many products: garden edging, bollards, planks for jetties, containers, trays, trolleys…the list goes on.

FCS Leading By Example

Like MiiMi and the Plastic Collective, Gowings Whale Trust benefactor, FCS, knows that protecting our waterways is the responsibility of everyone. Especially the surfers and surf companies who need a healthy ocean for their businesses to prosper.

To embed sustainable practices into their business model and contribute to the recycling effort, FCS is experimenting with recycled plastic in fins. Pure plastic has a little too much flex for a fin but combining plastic with fibreglass finds a sweet spot. Watch this space for news from FCS as trials continue. And best wishes to the Plastic Collective and MiiMi Aboriginal Corporation as they move toward their goal of manufacturing from reclaimed plastic.

What To Recycle

Soft plastic, like cling wrap and bread bags, can be recycled via Coles and Woolworths REDecycle bins at their supermarkets – check out this WWF article for info.

We’d like to share a few tips for recycling common goods, courtesy of Steph McCan at the World Wildlife Fund:

• Small plastic items like bottle lids can be recycled, but individually may slip through recycling machines, so put them into a larger plastic bottle before adding them to your bin.
• Plastic wrap used to cover food, so long as it’s reasonably clean, is good to go with other soft plastics in a REDcycle bin. Don’t waste water washing plastic wrap, simply scrape it clean.
• Aluminium foil is a precious recyclable material. In small pieces, it can cause problems during processing, so wait until you’ve got a golf ball size of it before adding it to your recycling bin.
• Foil-like packaging (think chocolate wrappers, chip packets and those little silver bags water crackers come in) fall into the soft plastics category and should be reserved for the REDcycle bins.
• Polystyrene and cellophane are both a definite no-no for recycling. Cellophane (the stuff food hampers are often wrapped in) may look like soft plastic, but it cannot be recycled with your soft plastics collection.

For those of you in the major cities, check out this mob – RecycleSmart. They’ll come and get your recycling for you!

Thanks to Steph McCann at WWF for the great info above. Thanks to FCS for helping to make the oceans a safer place for whales. You can help by picking up rubbish when beach walking, always recycling, and donating to the Gowings Whale Trust.

Read Part 1 of the Gowings Whale Trust Loving the Plastic Life story here.

The post Loving the Plastic Life, Part 2 appeared first on Coastbeat.