June & July are the months of the annual whale migration from the cold Antarctic where they eat to the warm tropics where they breed. Sydney is on their journey and thus we are privileged to witness one of Nature's greatest sights - whales swimming past us, with their jets of water released from their version of a blowhole. Interesting - these huge creatures - some of them weighing well over 40 Tons dont eat for months on end - the females eat only after they have given birth.
Yesterday, we took one of the numerous whale watching cruises from Darling Harbor to see the magnificent spectacle. The ship went down the Parramatta river under the Harbour Bridge and past the iconic Opera House in glorious sunshine, with strong cold winds blowing past us. The Heads - the Heads is the name given to the area where the river meets the Pacific - were rough and for us sitting right at the foredeck , it felt more like a ride on one of the rollercosters at Luna park (a few miles to our left) than the ocean. The sea remained rough all throughout the ride and it was about an hour from the Heads that we first came to the Whale migration spectacle.
It all began innocuously enough, the volunteer sitting next to me pointed to something that looked suspiciously like a larger surf on the ocean surface about 600 meters away - it took us a few more minutes to realise that we were indeed in sight of the largest creature the world has ever seen. Closer up, at about 150 meters away, the blowhole was jetting water up at least 10 meters - often the sheer amount of space on the ocean dulls the sense of time, distance and size - however there was no mistaking the sight of the creature that came up a couple of seconds after we saw the water jetting up the blowhole. It must have been at least 50 feet long, dark grey in color with spots underneath its jaws and black fins spearing through the rough sea. The mind was numbed for a moment with the spectacle before the scramble began to get the cameras and the recorders out and in action. Thrilling stuff.
After about an hour of witnessing these marvelous creatures and after the volunteer mentioned that he can spend all his life watching them (& I agree with him), we began the journey back to Sydney. We went into the cockpit for some coffee and I saw a very pertinent sign there - 'We love Japanese but hate whale killing'. As my wife and I sat drinking coffee in companionable silence, we both spoke almost simultaneously - how can someone have the heart to kill them? They are so beautiful...
Hard to imagine - if you dont believe me, please take a look and let me know if there are grander sights on earth.
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