Humpback Legends
Humpback whales migrate along the Australian East Coast every year from their feeding grounds in Antarctica up to the warm waters off the Great Barrier Reef to calve and mate. An annual migration of 10,000 kms.
Once the northern migration is complete and the whales commence their southern migration about a third, mostly females head to a rather special place to rest and take a break in Platypus Bay which is a short boat trip from Hervey Bay.
Like homing pigeons, they head to the warm, shallow waters of Platypus Bay sheltered in the lee of Fraser Island (K’gari).
It is here that the humpback mums take the opportunity to feed and bond with their calves and to teach them all the behaviours they will need to survive. – Platypus Bay literally becomes a humpback creche with an average stop-over of 2 weeks. These tiny babies which weigh a ton at birth fatten up and get stronger every day in preparation for their long swim down into the cold waters of the Antarctic.
As well as Hervey Bay, there are literally hundreds of Whale Watching boats that spread along the entire East Coast including Tasmania that enjoy the sheer wonder these magnificent whales present during the migration.
Serious Researchers with the help of Citizen Scientists are able to track, observe and better understand the humpbacks as they travel on this migration by submitting fluke images into a digital platform called "Happy Whale". The underside of a humpbacks fluke is like a fingerprint and is unique to the individual.
In the past few years I have had the opportunity (Thanks to "Cooly Tweed Cruises" based at Tweed Heads and also "Tasman Venture" in Hervey Bay) to photograph these amazing humpbacks and accumulated a catalogue of approximately 300 flukes and some of these flukes belong to what I call "Humpback Legends"
"Carolina"
Carolina was named by the Oceania Project (Trish and Wally Franklin of Hervey Bay)
ID: ECWWC-EC17020, PWF-SP_0421, OCEANAIA-UID-0899.
Carolina is a female, first identified on 19-06-1988 off Cairns.
1996 in the Whitsundays.
1993, 2001, 2006,2022 she was spotted in Hervey Bay (10 sightings altogether)
2022 and 2023 she was off the Gold Coast (4 sightings)
2006 NSW south coast off Eden
2017 she was seen off Eaglehawk Neck, Tasmania
2025 Cooly Tweed Cruises off The Tweed Coast near Cook Island. She had a calf with her.
So this beautiful matriarch with a huge girth and gentle nature has been migrating for at least 37 years with many a calf and hopefully grand-calves and hopefully great grand calves. She is definitely a living legend!
"Whalema"
Whalema was named by the Oceania Project (Trish and Wally Franklin of Hervey Bay)
ID: UID-0440, PWF-SP_1360
Whalema is a female, first identified on 31-08-1993 in Hervey Bay
There were 8 sightings in the years 2008 and 2013 off Eden
There were 4 sightings in Hervey Bay in the years 1993, 2007, 2008 and 2010
Cooly Tweed Cruises in 2025 just over the Qld border off Tugun. We saw a pair of adults swimming in total synchronicity and double breaching many times. One of this pair was "Whalema" and the other was new to "Happy Whale". I am sure we will see "Whalema" back next year with a bonny new calf! She has been migrating for at least 32 years and is also a living legend!
Once the northern migration is complete and the whales commence their southern migration about a third, mostly females head to a rather special place to rest and take a break in Platypus Bay which is a short boat trip from Hervey Bay.
Like homing pigeons, they head to the warm, shallow waters of Platypus Bay sheltered in the lee of Fraser Island (K’gari).
It is here that the humpback mums take the opportunity to feed and bond with their calves and to teach them all the behaviours they will need to survive. – Platypus Bay literally becomes a humpback creche with an average stop-over of 2 weeks. These tiny babies which weigh a ton at birth fatten up and get stronger every day in preparation for their long swim down into the cold waters of the Antarctic.
As well as Hervey Bay, there are literally hundreds of Whale Watching boats that spread along the entire East Coast including Tasmania that enjoy the sheer wonder these magnificent whales present during the migration.
Serious Researchers with the help of Citizen Scientists are able to track, observe and better understand the humpbacks as they travel on this migration by submitting fluke images into a digital platform called "Happy Whale". The underside of a humpbacks fluke is like a fingerprint and is unique to the individual.
In the past few years I have had the opportunity (Thanks to "Cooly Tweed Cruises" based at Tweed Heads and also "Tasman Venture" in Hervey Bay) to photograph these amazing humpbacks and accumulated a catalogue of approximately 300 flukes and some of these flukes belong to what I call "Humpback Legends"
"Carolina"
Carolina was named by the Oceania Project (Trish and Wally Franklin of Hervey Bay)
ID: ECWWC-EC17020, PWF-SP_0421, OCEANAIA-UID-0899.
Carolina is a female, first identified on 19-06-1988 off Cairns.
1996 in the Whitsundays.
1993, 2001, 2006,2022 she was spotted in Hervey Bay (10 sightings altogether)
2022 and 2023 she was off the Gold Coast (4 sightings)
2006 NSW south coast off Eden
2017 she was seen off Eaglehawk Neck, Tasmania
2025 Cooly Tweed Cruises off The Tweed Coast near Cook Island. She had a calf with her.
So this beautiful matriarch with a huge girth and gentle nature has been migrating for at least 37 years with many a calf and hopefully grand-calves and hopefully great grand calves. She is definitely a living legend!
"Whalema"
Whalema was named by the Oceania Project (Trish and Wally Franklin of Hervey Bay)
ID: UID-0440, PWF-SP_1360
Whalema is a female, first identified on 31-08-1993 in Hervey Bay
There were 8 sightings in the years 2008 and 2013 off Eden
There were 4 sightings in Hervey Bay in the years 1993, 2007, 2008 and 2010
Cooly Tweed Cruises in 2025 just over the Qld border off Tugun. We saw a pair of adults swimming in total synchronicity and double breaching many times. One of this pair was "Whalema" and the other was new to "Happy Whale". I am sure we will see "Whalema" back next year with a bonny new calf! She has been migrating for at least 32 years and is also a living legend!