Humpbacks & High-Rises
Whale Tails 2020/2
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This is our quarterly newsletter bringing you a summary of the urban marine mammal world. Facts, Stories and Events. Join us on the largest mammal migration on earth!
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Standing up for our whales. The Stop Whale Entanglement open letter was our main focus in June at the start of the whale season after already 4 entanglements.
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The start of the 2020 whale season
We certainly are faced with some of the most challenging times that we ever had in our 9 years of whale surveys. As CoViD-19 restrictions were easing we managed to set up land based surveys on the Gold Coast to at least undertake some monitoring while we were unable to undertake our usual boat based surveys. Our Burleigh Heads surveys were surprisingly very popular and have run smoothly for over a month now with more than 35 volunteers participating. We even had coverage by Channel 9 News and enjoyed a visit from Arlian aka Plastic Free Boy and gave a live stream organised by Griffith University.
Sadly once again whale entanglements became the main focus at the start of the 2020 whale season. Four animals were caught in shark nets on the Gold Coast with the earliest entrapment ever recorded on the 19th May. The whale was freed by a member of the public who became known as the tinny man. A mother and calf was later trapped in mid June followed by a subadult a few days later. All animals were cut free but as we pointed out freeing a whale does not mean it will survive. It was the time when we decided to hand over a petition to the government asking for a replacement of shark nets during the whale migration.
All our general meetings were held online but we were still productive and new members joined us. Planning for the return to boat based surveys, analysing data, updating data sheets, getting survey equipment organised, planning training days and so on. There is always so much to do and so little time at the start of every whale season and more so during a pandemic.
Staying afloat in a time of uncertainty is only possible if we have your support. We are very grateful about two generous donations by Browns English Language School and Saltwater Financial Group as well as their ongoing commitment to future support. I am looking forward working together for marine mammal protection and research with them. We also welcome a new research partner Wild Byron into our group supporting whale monitoring.
Thanks for being part of a the ocean community. Together we make a difference.
Olaf Meynecke
CEO HHR
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Handing over our open letter to Hon Mark Furner, Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries on the 23rd June 2020 at 41 George Street in Brisbane
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Stop whale entanglement petition
by Olaf Meynecke
On the 23rd June 2020 the Stop Whale Entanglement open letter supported at that time by 105 000 people and 13 national and international organisations was handed over to the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries. After 4 whale entanglements within one month and at the start of the whale season the time was now to make a stand and demand a change to the practice of setting permanent gill nets in a confirmed resting area of humpback whales.
The response to the open letter at least from the public and media was encouraging. National news throughout Australia were covering the delivery of the petition and helped raising the issue. Based on a response from the Queensland government a possible change to the current shark nets on the Gold Coast was indicated, however, to date none of the nets that we identified as particularly dangerous for whales have been replaced with other methods such as drones and SMART drumlines.
The risk of ongoing whale entanglements continues to be very real and the next one is only a matter of time. You can continue to support change by spreading the word and sharing the open letter.
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Tinny man to the rescue
by David Chandrasekhar
This May we witnessed the rescue of a juvenile whale from entanglement in shark nets near Burleigh Heads, by a local diver known as ‘Django’ or the ‘Tinny Man’. After spotting a distressed whale from over 400m away this Queenslander did not hesitate to risk his life by jumping into the water with his knife. Fortunately the outcome was positive for the whale, which was cut free from the net and swam away as fast as it could; however, Django faced a hefty $27,000 fine for breaching the Government’s shark net exclusion zone. To support this man in what was generally considered an act of heroism, the public raised substantial funds to help pay the fine; however, after his case was reviewed the charges were dropped and he was faced instead with two Fisheries Infringement Notices. Perhaps one reason that Django captured the public’s attention, is that he represents what many Gold Coasters (and other Australian coastal communities) want– to value our marine environments. This being said, the Department of Fisheries insist Django’s actions remain reckless and dangerous, and could have lead to a tragic outcome. Furthermore, this incident supports the notion to remove shark nets; so that the ocean and the people who care about it aren’t unnecessarily put in danger. As of July 2020 there were already four cases of whale entanglements in shark nets on the Gold Coast alone. We hope that the growing support from the public and NPO’s will mean our whales won’t need a Tinny Man to rescue them in the future!
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No confirmed sighting of Migaloo this whale season so far but an almost white whale was spotted on the Gold Coast named Oreo in June.
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Migaloo
by Viv Kalas
This year the much anticipated annual arrival of the famous white whale was met with many unconfirmed sightings. Here on the Gold Coast it was predicted that he would pass by around the 20th of June but he failed to appear leaving whale watchers disappointed.
Migaloo was thought to have been spotted on the NSW South Coast at Hat Head on the 16th of June by flying instructor, Ross Castanzo who photographed what looked like a white whale from his airplane. A day later on the 17th June there was another unconfirmed sighting of Migaloo at Port Macquarie by long time whale watcher, Leigh Mansfield from ORRCA whale and dolphin rescue. Later that day there was yet another sighting and photograph of what was thought to be Migaloo at Lennox Head in Northern New South Whales. There have since been no further sightings of Migaloo who usually heads further north to the Port Douglas region during his migration.
Was it Migaloo? In recent years whales with 80-90% white colouring have been passing the east coast. Panda and Oreo have black dorsal fins but a majority white colouring of the body. Last year Migaloo was observed to have skin discolouration due to a lice infestation. Large amounts of lice are due to the whale being in poor health and not moving at their regular speed. Concerns about his health and survival also raise questions as to was it Migaloo that was sighted in June this year.
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Land based surveys from Burleigh Heads
by Sharyn Carnahan
Luckily COVID-19 restrictions were lifted and it was possible for us to at least undertake land based surveys. The 1st of June is the official start to the whale season on the Gold Coast and with no boats doing trips to the whales we had to come up with a new way of surveying them. So, with a hike up the hill at Burleigh Headlands to Tumgun Lookout we took our new best friend Theo the theodolite and set him up so that we could do an abundance survey. Throughout June the whales mostly stayed a long way off the coast, but 34 keen volunteers also stared at the ocean watching for breaches, blows and any other sign of whales. Each individual volunteer did between 1 and 15 surveys, and we have 21 of them returning to continue watching from the headlands in July. So far we sighted 558 whales in 290 pods during 140 survey hours.
This has been a great opportunity for HHR volunteers to interact with the public with plenty of questions being asked and answered. The most often asked questions – “have you seen any whales?” “Where’s Migaloo?” “Have you seen Migaloo?” The most common answers were – “lots”, “have no idea”, “no, he likes to play hide and seek with the Gold Coast”.
We hope to have the capacity and interest amongst our volunteers to even continue beyond the 14th July.
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How to support humpback whales?
by Karlien Paas
We at Humpbacks and High-Rises are trying to protect our whales through research, education, and outreach, and there are several options for you to support the migrating humpback whales at the east coast of Australia: report your sighting, become a member, a volunteer, take part in one of our research expeditions, adopt a whale, buy from our webshop, donate, or become a sponsor.
Report a whale sighting – You can help our research by reporting a whale sighting! Head over to our online form or download the Whale & Dolphin Tracker app.
Membership – For only $5 a year you can become a member and support our research.
Volunteering – When you want to be more involved than just being a member, you could become a volunteer and take part in whale surveys. Our first training seminar of the year is Monday 27 July, 6PM!
Research Expeditions – If you are very keen to see whales and help with our research you could sign up for one of our 3 day - research expeditions with our founder Dr Olaf Meynecke!
Adopt a Whale – There is no better way to show your support for the wild! You can adopt a whale for yourself or someone else. You will receive a certificate of your adoption, and you will support our research focusing on the humpback whales.
Web shop – We are an NGO that runs on volunteers, donations, and sales from our webshop. We have some awesome hand-made ocean themed scrunchies and facemasks, whale mugs, HHR keep-cups, and some other merchandise.
Donate – If you want to support our research but you are not interested in all of the other options just described, you can simply donate to support our research! All of the money supports the research and the whales!
Our social media channels will keep updating you on whale news, our research, and volunteer options, so please stay in touch via Facebook or Instagram for your regular dose of whale news!
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Every piece counts - cleaning up our underwater backyard
by Michelle Coates
Sally Gregory (PhD Candidate) is local to the Tallebudgera Creek waterway and is currently researching women divers, scuba diving, adventure tourism and aging and leisure studies. Sally invited me to go check out the amount of rubbish that had accumulated in the waterway under the bridge near the Jellurgal Aboriginal Cultural Centre. Given it was nearly whale migration time, I was very concerned to see the amount and types of rubbish wrapped around the pylons heading out to sea. As a member of HHR I felt this was time well spent to assist Sally and the other local crew members in a clean up which resulted in an average of 5kg a day being pulled from just a small section of our waterways leading to the ocean. Debris was mostly fishing gear and other plastics along with lines heading out to sea with hooks still attached. If you ever wondered why there are ‘no fishing’ signs on bridges it’s because of this: the lines very quickly get caught around the pylons and the hooks entangled in the old pylon structures underwater. Eventually you have a web of line and hooks which can also endanger other water users including boat prop entanglements. Left unattended, the lines break off and end up at sea or start breaking up into smaller pieces of plastic. There are so many ways to help our ocean life including assisting divers to sort and collate debris after a dive. Please help educate others about this issue to keep our own back yard clean for our whales to go by in safer waters.
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Upcoming Events & volunteer opportunities
You can help making a difference and be part of our growing group of whale and dolphin researchers.
- Join our dedicated volunteer team and sign up for the 2020 whale season with the first training planned to be held 27th May 2020 starting 6pm. Please, check here for details.
- Want to be part of the core team and get the real deal? Join our dedicated team that runs HHR at our monthly general meetings. Held at the end of each month. Next meeting 16th July 2020 at 1830 until 1930. This meeting will be held online and you can join at Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87481982053
- Become an intern with HHR. We call for interns for the 2020 whale season.
- Continue to support and share the open letter Stop whale entanglement and request alternative methods to be put in place and developed.
- Join our 3-day research expeditions on the Gold Coast in 2020. Bookings and details here.
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HHR relies on the interest, support and good will of people who feel that protecting marine mammals and learning about them is important. We are honest, independent and stand for the well being of our natural wonders and a sustainable whale watching industry. Our ongoing work entirely depends on donation. Please, consider donating for whale research and protection.
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