Diving regularly in Jervis Bay over the last ten years we have often seen Humpback and Southern Right Whales on their migratory paths off the coast . With a huge increase in the number of sightings over the last three years the Bay is fast becoming a Mecca for whale watching. Australia's participation in the history of whaling began with the arrival in 1791 of the Third Fleet from England. After unloading their live lumber (convicts), five ships, the Britannia, Maryann, William & Ann, Salamander and Matilda, hoisted sail after "fish" (whales). Although the Britannia and William & Ann harpooned seven "fish", they were only able to secure one each due to the violent weather. The Salamander lost an estimated ten barrels of fish and the Matilda returned after four days without daring to lower a whaleboat from the deck. The five ships then set sail for Peru. Four returned to London full of oil, the Matilda was wrecked in the Northern Pacific Ocean. Whaling was soon to be the most important industry in the colony and would continue to be for the next three decades, long before any notion of Australia's mineral resources or attempts at agriculture or pastoral endeavours.
The New Industry
The whalers were instrumental in the exploration of the Australian coastline in their pursuit of "fish", setting up operations in Port Lincoln, Portland Bay, Victor Harbour and along the Great Australian Bight. Indirectly, whales played a significant role in keeping the small settlements around our vast coastline functioning, as whaling ships were a vital lifeline bringing supplies, raw materials and labour. In 1803, on the way to establish the first settlement in Tasmania at Risdon, Captain Binker (Australia's whaling pioneer) remarked that "whales were so thick he could take 'em without looking". En route the only restraint placed on his whaling activities was the chaining of convicts below deck. By the 1839 season there were over 20 whaling stations in Tasmania centred around Hobart and the Derwent River. The then Maritime Authority were advising vessels to stay mid-river to avoid Southern Right Whales that were in close proximity to the shoreline as they were a hazard to navigation. 1864 brought the most devastating device whales had to face, the exploding harpoon gun, which by 1880 was fitted to steam ships. Combined with the advent of floating factory ships and chasers, the worlds great whales were hunted close to extinction. By the 1924-25 whaling season the world catch was 23,000 whales, which increased to 43,000 in 1930-31. The slaughter reached a peak of 66,000 being taken in 1961-62. Declining stocks and increased conservation measures significantly contributed to a much smaller catch of 19,000 whales in the 1975-76 season. 1962 saw the humpback fishery collapse and finally cease operation in 1963. Unfortunately by then Australia's visiting populations of Humpbacks and Southern Right Whales were on the verge of extinction.
Right Whales
There is some debate as to how many species of right whales exist. Most authorities recognize two, the Southern and Pygmy Right Whale. The Northern Right Whale has been proposed as a third. Both species were close to extinction before being declared protected in 1937. The Southern Right Whale is now showing signs of recovery with an increase of up to 7% per year. The number of Southern Right Whales taken is unknown. From an estimated stock of 50,000 animals pre-whaling, their population is now estimated at three to five thousand world wide with several hundred visiting Australian waters annually.
Humpback Whales
The world distribution of humpbacks is divided into ten geographically distinct sub-populations with very little if any mixing between the groups. The southern hemisphere has six of these groups that spend the summer in Antarctica with two groups migrating north to Australia each year.
Before modern commercial whaling, the population of the Western Australian Group was in the region of 12,000-17,000. By 1963 their numbers were reduced to less than 800 individuals of which half were immature. The total catch of this group from 1912 to 1963 exceeded 40,000.
The East Australian Group population was around 10,000 and by 1963 was decimated to 500 animals. There were instances of illegal hunting of this group. In 1955 the factory ship, Olympic Challenger took over 1,000 whales. The total catch for this group was 15,000.
After a tireless campaign by several conservation groups, a worldwide ban on whaling was introduced in 1986. In defiance of the ban a number of countries still use a loophole to take several hundred whales each year for "scientific research". The carcasses are then processed for their meat and oil.
Over 140,000 humpbacks were killed in Antarctica. Most groups are now recovering at an average of about 9% per annum from the 1962 numbers, leading to more encounters each year, including several white humpbacks being sited regularly during their trek along the east coast of Australia.
Perhaps the greatest threat whales and other marine animals face today is the increasing maritime traffic with its associated noise. Recent research indicates whales can communicate over vast distances through the ocean. Now they must compete with man-made noises as well. Maritime pollution is still a hazard with the continued dumping of raw sewage, toxic waste and other chemicals into the world's oceans every day. Autopsies carried out on dead whales have revealed high concentrations of chemical residue, some of which are known to cause birth defects and cancers.
Jervis Bay played a small part in Australia's fledgling industry. Whalers visited the Bay in pursuit of their quarry starting from the 1790s up until 1912-13. Vessels belonging to the southern whaling fleet regularly called into the Bay's sheltered waters to render down their fish, reprovisioning with food and water at Bristol Point. This changed in the 1790s when gold was discovered in the mountains behind Jervis Bay. Most ships lost crew members to the goldfields through deserters hoping for the chance to strike it rich.
Over the years a number of shorebased operations worked out of the Bay, the most successful being Captain William Kinghorne who, in 1840, with one ship working from the north eastern side of the Bay taking Black, Sperm and Humpback whales. He ceased operating after three years due to the prohibitive costs of transporting the finished product to Sydney combined with the scarcity of his quarry.
In 1912 the Norwegian eight thousand ton factory ship the Loch Tay plus the chasers Sorell and Campbell arrived in the Bay to hunt whales with the full support of the NSW government and fisheries. The two chasers harpooned one hundred and fifty eight whale in the 1912 season, rendering them down to 400 barrels of oil. They then departed to New Zealand, returning with a second factory ship, the Polynesia, for the 1913 season. From June through to October they took 379 whales, making a total of 537 whales for the two seasons yielding 2666 tons of oil. This operation was forced to close down after only two seasons as there were many complaints received due to the strong odour and offal floating in the Bay. The last attempt at whaling in the Bay was in 1919 when a businessman was prepared to build a modern whaling station employing several hundred workers with ship building and other industries receiving a much needed boost. Despite local enthusiasm the acting Prime Minister, William Watt, stated "it would be unwise to permit the establishment of a whaling station which is in close proximity to the Naval College- HMAS Creswell"
Our observation over the last ten years have shown Humpbacks rarely show interest in anything during June/July, being very single minded on their trip north to their breeding grounds. Whereas in September/October, the southbound females will frequently indulge the inquisitive nature of their calves letting them investigate anything that takes their fancy. They often rest in the protected waters of the Bay before moving on.
During the migratory season, sightings off the entrance to the Bay have become a regular event. One morning we watched enthralled as four Humpbacks breached simultaneously in front of us, their antics continued for over an hour until we had to leave. Of course they must have known I had decided to leave most of my camera equipment at home and consequently only had a 20 mm lens in a housing.
Warren Jones regularly contributes his photographs to NBT
Stow it in a Whale
There are more and more reports of whales washed up, starved to death, with plastic bags clogging their guts. If you want Government intervention, you've got it. The Department of the Environment has come up with a slogan: "Stow it, don't throw it"! That should fix the problem. Coles and Woolies, mega plastic bag purveyors must be all atremble. How about a 20c levy on plastic bags as in Germany and confiscation of vessels or vehicles from which plastic bags are thrown as a follow-up?
Senator Bob Brown, The Australian Greens (From The Daily Planet)
Keep watching for Whales
Whales are presently moving south again having calved in warmer waters in the South. Take at trip to Governor's Head, the old Cape St. George Lighthouse and St George's Head for good vantage points in Booderee National Park.