Hunting Migaloo the albino humpback

As a volunteer at the dive shop I obviously don´t get any money, but there are some perks to the job. I can dive for free if there is room on the boat and sometimes I am needed as deckhand on the whale watching trips the dive shop offers. As was the case last Friday.

We launched the boat of the beach at a part of the cape called The Pass. We get the people on board, push the boat out a bit further and break through the surf on the two big 100hp engines at the back. The drill is to drive the boat about half way down the bay, where it is less windy and the skipper can have his little talk.

Whilst the captain is talking about the whales, the different species and their migration route I stand on the back looking out for signs of our targets, Humpback whales.

I saw a few spouts on the horizon. When the whales exhale the warm air condensates and forms a plume of about 4 to 5 meters high, which is called a spout. As soon as the captain was don with his talk I pointed him in the direction I saw the whales and off we were.

We passed Julian Rock’s, a marine reserve where the diving in Byron Bay takes place, and headed further out to sea. By law we have to keep a distance of a 100 meters to the whales and 300 meters if there is a calf present. Luckily for us humpback whales are very inquisitive and the often come to the boat to check us out. 2 individuals surfaced just 30 meters from our boat. They just came to have a look at the humans as they were migrating to their breeding grounds in the warm waters around the Great Barrier Reef. Their distinct dorsal fins just briefly breaching the surface accompanied by the hissing noise of them ex- and inhaling.

Off course it is a very cool sight to see whales so close to the boat, but I wasn’t impressed quite yet. In the distance we saw some whales breaching (jumping out of the water) and plowed the boat through the waves in their direction in the hope to see it up close.

As you might expect as soon as we reached their location they stopped breaching, but we did get treated to some fin slapping. The whale will lie on its side at the surface and slap his or hers distinct white pectoral fin on the surface. The loud thud implies the force they use to do this and I can be heard underwater for several kilometers. The display lasted for about 15 minutes and was very impressive.
The whales decided it was time to go. That was fine with me since it is the only way to see that signature tail rise over the water and disappear into the deep blue. I’ve seen lots of documentaries on marine life and whales but none of them do justice to seeing one 30 meters away.
The captain had us keep an eye out for Migaloo. The only albino humpback whale in the world. It has been spotted in these waters before, but didn’t show his all white face this day.
As a cherry on top we lowered a hydrophone into the water to listen to the whale’s song. They are not just noises. It is an actual song with choruses and verses which lasts about 20 minutes. Only the boys do the singing in the whale world. They hang vertically in the water and take to the stage with a song that can be heard for miles.
Maybe Migaloo will sing for us the next time around.

Alien and awesome

I’ve been in Australia for almost a month now and I am getting more and more used to living down under. I especially enjoy the moments when I encounter something completely new or weird down here.

First of all the wild life. There are birds everywhere. The carry names like Magpie, black kite, kookaburra and the brush turkey. White Ibis in every park searching for food. Loorakeets, parrots, ospreys and eagles. All with their own unique weird ass sound. One sounds like an alarm clock, another sounds like a goat! I have now idea which ones make which sound, but I think it is amazing. Just walking though the Arakwal National Park I hear the birds warning their mates as I approach. It is like an orchestra that moves with you, like every tree has his own musician.

In the morning when I go to work I see these white birds with grey wings, long legs and a short yellow beak. No one I’ve asked so far seems to know what they are called. When another bird of the same kind approaches a standoff takes place. They size each other up, flap their wings and slowly walk in a circle around each other. I don’t know how they decide who the king of the lawn is, but it looks awesome.

What freaks me out the most I guess would be driving on the left side of the road. I’m really struggling with that. I look the wrong way when crossing a street, when there is no other traffic I tend to keep right and the roundabouts are just mind boggling to me. I hope I get the hang of it soon, because I feel I’m an accident waiting to happen.

Also a good thing to know is they don’t have regular coffee here in Oz. It took me about 5 minutes arguing with this lady to figure out what a ‘regular coffee’ is. To me regular would be just coffee. No milk or foam or any other additive. Just coffee. Sounds logical right? But no, normal would be a cappuccino or a Latte with soy milk. If you just want coffee order a Long Black. It is not really a ‘regular’ coffee, but an espresso which they add water to. Don’t get me wrong it taste great, it just doesn’t make any sense to me.

Aussies like to abbreviate everything. Woolworths becomes woolies, sunglasses become sunnies, afternoon is abbreviated: arvo. I is so funny to whenever I end up not understanding someone because of slang or abbreviations. I thought I understood English, but I’m learning every day here and I love it.

Apparently there is quite an alcohol problem in Oz and one of the laws in Byron Bay is that they can not serve shots after midnight. It turns out that a nice glass of whisky is considered a shot. I was flabbergasted when the bartender told me. I guess I just have to resort to a nice bottle at home instead of enjoying some scotch on a night out.

Busking (street performing) is a legit way to make some extra cash in Byron Bay. So on every corner there is live music. Some are more talented then others, but live music everywhere nonetheless. Usually they are weird and colorful characters. It makes the entire town so much more alive and it I joy just strolling down the street.

I can go on and on about all the stuff that seems weird to me. I don’t recognize the night sky for example and yes the water does swirl down the drain in the opposite direction. Every day I learn something new, see something new and meet new weird people. Everything is very alien to me and I think it’s awesome.