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.
https://happywhale.com.
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" 2025
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" 2025
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!
"Nala" 2025
Nala is a living legend and probably the most famous and beloved whale in Hervey Bay. She was first recorded by the Oceania Project (Trish and Wally Franklin of Hervey Bay) in 1988. In 1996, school children who had joined the Oceanic Project as part of "Kids On the Ocean" youth project named her Nala after the character from the Lion King and her consequent calves also received this honour.(1996 - Simba. 1998 - Pumba. 1999 - Mufasa. 2003 - Timone. 2006 - Zazu)
Nala ID: UID-0007 (Oceana Project), HW-MN11000018, LEAM-EA00002, PWF-SP_0502, also HW-MN1102047
She has taught researchers about "Fluke-up" feeding where she stays still with her fluke way out of the water so her calf can drink and rise to the surface with ease. Nala has also demonstrated that humpbacks can calve in consecutive years. Pre-Nala it was thought that they would only calve every 2 to 3 years. Nala arrived in Hervey Bay on the 4th September 2025 with her 15th recorded calf. The "Blue Dolphin" spotted her with her fluke up feeding early in the morning and by 8:30 the entire fleet was a buzz with excitement! It was indeed an honour and privilege to see Nala - she has a very wide girth and is overall massive in size. She moved slowly around the bay and at one point was surrounded by sub-adults all swimming around the 'Grandma" of the sea. It appeared that she was a legend in the water as well as out! Her likeness has been captured in statues around Hervey Bay as well as hand-made jewellery (www.worldtreasuredesigns.com). Recorded since 1988 - she has been traveling these waters for at least 37 years!
"White Wings" 2025
Another Hervey Bay legend is "White Wings". She is a known female, named for her completely white pectoral fins, an odd juxtaposition to a mostly black fluke.
White Wings was named by the Oceania Project (Trish and Wally Franklin of Hervey Bay)
ID: HW-MN1100235, LEAM-EA00090, PWF-SP_1177, UID-0428
She was spotted in Hervey Bay on the 4th September 2025 with her 10th recorded calf. White Wings has been recorded since 1992 - which means she has been travelling these waters for at least 33 years!
"Alcyone aka Pyrenees" 2024
Alcyone aka Pyrenees (Oceania Project - Trish and Wally Franklin of Hervey Bay) is a female and was first sighted in Hervey Bay on 20-09-2003. There were 8 sightings of her and her calves in Hervey Bay over the years and 2 sightings off Eden on the South Coast of NSW. We (Cooly Tweed Cruises) sighted her off the Tweed Coast on 06-10-2024. She had a badly torn fluke. The damaged fluke was an older injury fully healed and she was getting along just fine! The injury must have happened after the 2022 sighting as before that her fluke was not damaged.
ID: HW-MN1100065, PWF-SP_3136, UID-1307. Also formerly HW-1100276, HW-MN1100644 and UID-2752
This lovely brave lady is definitely a legend and has been migrating for at least 21 years!
"Unnamed - ECWWC-BB08048" 2024
Sadly this awesome whale does not have a name nor do we know its sex. It was first sighted in Hervey bay on 03-08-1993. It has been sighted there again 7 times, once off Byron Bay in 2008 and Tweed Cooly Cruises sighted her on 07-10-2024 off the Tweed Coast.
ID: ECWWC-BB08048, PWF-SP_1271
This legend of the seas has been migrating for at least 31 years!
"Santa Maria" 2024
Santa Maria (Oceania Project - named by Trish and Wally Franklin of Hervey Bay) is a female and was first sighted in Hervey Bay on 08-09-2002. There were 6 sightings of her in Hervey Bay over the years and 1 sighting off Eden on the South Coast of NSW. We (Cooly Tweed Cruises) sighted her off the Tweed Coast on 21-09-2024.
ID: UID-1392, PWF-SP_2389
This lovely legend has been migrating for at least 22 years
"Unnamed - HW-MN1101005" 2023
Sadly this handsome whale does not have a name but we do know that he is a male inferred from a sighting by the Oceania Project (Trish and Wally Franklin of Hervey Bay) He was first sighted off North Stradbroke Island on 11-10-1987. He has been sighted in the Whitsundays in 1993 and again in 2018. He was sighted twice in Hervey bay in 2007 and 2014. Tweed Cooly Cruises sighted him on 12-08-2023 off the Tweed Coast and he was spotted again off Noosa in 2024 - so he is still travelling!
ID: HW-MN1101005, UID-2281, PWF-SP_0366
So this big chunk of male whale has been migrating for at least 37 years! I wonder how many calves he has sired during this time?
"Dawn" 2022
We may assume she is a female due to her name but Happy Whale does not confirm it. She was first seen in Hervey Bay on 02-10-1996 and seen there 4 more times over the years. She was spotted off the Gold Coast in 2019 and Cooly Tweed Cruises spotted her off the Tweed Coast on 16-10-2022.
ID: PWF-SP_5361, UID-0163
So this lovely lady has been migrating for at least 26 years!
"Unnamed - PWF-SP_1759" 2022
This awesome whale does not have a name nor do we know its sex. It was first sighted in Hervey Bay on 14-08-1997. It has been sighted there again 4 times, once off the Whitsundays in 1999 and off Eden in southern NSW in 2003 and Tweed Cooly Cruises sighted her on 25-09-2022 off the Tweed Coast.
ID: PWF-SP_1759, UID-1070 and also sighted as UID-1073.
So this whale has been migrating for at least 25 years!
"Unnamed - HW-MN1101691" 2021
This awesome whale does not have a name nor do we know its sex. It was first sighted in Hervey Bay on 11-09-1996. It has been sighted there 5 times over the years, twice off Eden in Southern NSW in 1999 and 2011 and Tweed Cooly Cruises sighted her on 02-10-2021 off the Tweed Coast. It has been seen again off the East Coast of Tasmania in 2022
ID: HW_MN1101691, UID-2877, PWF-SP_1622
So this whale has been migrating for 26 years!
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.
https://happywhale.com.
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" 2025
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" 2025
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!
"Nala" 2025
Nala is a living legend and probably the most famous and beloved whale in Hervey Bay. She was first recorded by the Oceania Project (Trish and Wally Franklin of Hervey Bay) in 1988. In 1996, school children who had joined the Oceanic Project as part of "Kids On the Ocean" youth project named her Nala after the character from the Lion King and her consequent calves also received this honour.(1996 - Simba. 1998 - Pumba. 1999 - Mufasa. 2003 - Timone. 2006 - Zazu)
Nala ID: UID-0007 (Oceana Project), HW-MN11000018, LEAM-EA00002, PWF-SP_0502, also HW-MN1102047
She has taught researchers about "Fluke-up" feeding where she stays still with her fluke way out of the water so her calf can drink and rise to the surface with ease. Nala has also demonstrated that humpbacks can calve in consecutive years. Pre-Nala it was thought that they would only calve every 2 to 3 years. Nala arrived in Hervey Bay on the 4th September 2025 with her 15th recorded calf. The "Blue Dolphin" spotted her with her fluke up feeding early in the morning and by 8:30 the entire fleet was a buzz with excitement! It was indeed an honour and privilege to see Nala - she has a very wide girth and is overall massive in size. She moved slowly around the bay and at one point was surrounded by sub-adults all swimming around the 'Grandma" of the sea. It appeared that she was a legend in the water as well as out! Her likeness has been captured in statues around Hervey Bay as well as hand-made jewellery (www.worldtreasuredesigns.com). Recorded since 1988 - she has been traveling these waters for at least 37 years!
"White Wings" 2025
Another Hervey Bay legend is "White Wings". She is a known female, named for her completely white pectoral fins, an odd juxtaposition to a mostly black fluke.
White Wings was named by the Oceania Project (Trish and Wally Franklin of Hervey Bay)
ID: HW-MN1100235, LEAM-EA00090, PWF-SP_1177, UID-0428
She was spotted in Hervey Bay on the 4th September 2025 with her 10th recorded calf. White Wings has been recorded since 1992 - which means she has been travelling these waters for at least 33 years!
"Alcyone aka Pyrenees" 2024
Alcyone aka Pyrenees (Oceania Project - Trish and Wally Franklin of Hervey Bay) is a female and was first sighted in Hervey Bay on 20-09-2003. There were 8 sightings of her and her calves in Hervey Bay over the years and 2 sightings off Eden on the South Coast of NSW. We (Cooly Tweed Cruises) sighted her off the Tweed Coast on 06-10-2024. She had a badly torn fluke. The damaged fluke was an older injury fully healed and she was getting along just fine! The injury must have happened after the 2022 sighting as before that her fluke was not damaged.
ID: HW-MN1100065, PWF-SP_3136, UID-1307. Also formerly HW-1100276, HW-MN1100644 and UID-2752
This lovely brave lady is definitely a legend and has been migrating for at least 21 years!
"Unnamed - ECWWC-BB08048" 2024
Sadly this awesome whale does not have a name nor do we know its sex. It was first sighted in Hervey bay on 03-08-1993. It has been sighted there again 7 times, once off Byron Bay in 2008 and Tweed Cooly Cruises sighted her on 07-10-2024 off the Tweed Coast.
ID: ECWWC-BB08048, PWF-SP_1271
This legend of the seas has been migrating for at least 31 years!
"Santa Maria" 2024
Santa Maria (Oceania Project - named by Trish and Wally Franklin of Hervey Bay) is a female and was first sighted in Hervey Bay on 08-09-2002. There were 6 sightings of her in Hervey Bay over the years and 1 sighting off Eden on the South Coast of NSW. We (Cooly Tweed Cruises) sighted her off the Tweed Coast on 21-09-2024.
ID: UID-1392, PWF-SP_2389
This lovely legend has been migrating for at least 22 years
"Unnamed - HW-MN1101005" 2023
Sadly this handsome whale does not have a name but we do know that he is a male inferred from a sighting by the Oceania Project (Trish and Wally Franklin of Hervey Bay) He was first sighted off North Stradbroke Island on 11-10-1987. He has been sighted in the Whitsundays in 1993 and again in 2018. He was sighted twice in Hervey bay in 2007 and 2014. Tweed Cooly Cruises sighted him on 12-08-2023 off the Tweed Coast and he was spotted again off Noosa in 2024 - so he is still travelling!
ID: HW-MN1101005, UID-2281, PWF-SP_0366
So this big chunk of male whale has been migrating for at least 37 years! I wonder how many calves he has sired during this time?
"Dawn" 2022
We may assume she is a female due to her name but Happy Whale does not confirm it. She was first seen in Hervey Bay on 02-10-1996 and seen there 4 more times over the years. She was spotted off the Gold Coast in 2019 and Cooly Tweed Cruises spotted her off the Tweed Coast on 16-10-2022.
ID: PWF-SP_5361, UID-0163
So this lovely lady has been migrating for at least 26 years!
"Unnamed - PWF-SP_1759" 2022
This awesome whale does not have a name nor do we know its sex. It was first sighted in Hervey Bay on 14-08-1997. It has been sighted there again 4 times, once off the Whitsundays in 1999 and off Eden in southern NSW in 2003 and Tweed Cooly Cruises sighted her on 25-09-2022 off the Tweed Coast.
ID: PWF-SP_1759, UID-1070 and also sighted as UID-1073.
So this whale has been migrating for at least 25 years!
"Unnamed - HW-MN1101691" 2021
This awesome whale does not have a name nor do we know its sex. It was first sighted in Hervey Bay on 11-09-1996. It has been sighted there 5 times over the years, twice off Eden in Southern NSW in 1999 and 2011 and Tweed Cooly Cruises sighted her on 02-10-2021 off the Tweed Coast. It has been seen again off the East Coast of Tasmania in 2022
ID: HW_MN1101691, UID-2877, PWF-SP_1622
So this whale has been migrating for 26 years!