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have dived deep again, and we must wait
for them to resurface. It is common for
adult humpbacks to surface every few
minutes—this period can span anywhere
between five and 15 minutes, during which
they might change directions drastically.
(As far as extremes go, a whale can dive for
as long as 45 minutes on a single breath!)
“This is why I call it ‘whale-waiting’,” the
skipper quips with practised inflection.
Soon, a spray is spotted at a distance,
followed by a dark-grey giant’s back
arching just above the waterline with the
peculiar dorsal fin that identifies the
humpback. And then another.
Directions are announced on the speaker
in terms of clock hand positions. We have
found our pod just off the harbour, so close
in fact that the city’s skyline still floats on
the horizon. Once we strike gold, a gold rush
follows. One by one, three pods come into
view. Each of them dives for different
periods of time and heads in different
directions, encircling our idling boat with
possibilities. Every time a magnificent tail
fin rises up from the water, the crowd oohs
and aahs and camera shutters go wild, but
the tail also indicates the start of a deep diveand a long, uncertain wait. The skipper does the math,
comparing the dive times of the pods, and decides to
track two that need air more frequently than the third.
All the time, we maintain a respectable distance,
allowing the humpbacks to approach us if they want.
Humpback whales are typically solitary creatures but
sometimes work together in pods of two to three
individuals to catch a meal or during migration. They
also have one of the most complex songs in the animal
world. While scientists still can’t determine with
complete certainty what purpose these melodies serve,
they’re so unique to individual whales and pods that they
are akin to local dialects of a language. As I watch the
whales surface to breathe, spraying water and air (and
mucus, the Internet tells me) out of their blowholes, it
feels like seeing the tip of the proverbial iceberg. Most of
their fascinating behaviour, including their unique
songs, can only be experienced under the waterline.
My fellow whale-watchers battle the pendulum
swings of the rocking boat to get a view of every whale
in the water; they come from all over the world, but
delight speaks the same language. It is hard to imagine
that we belong to the same species that almost wiped
whales off the planet not so long ago. In the 19th and
early 20th centuries, commercial whaling brought themA Whale Watching
Sydney cruise
departs twice a
day from the
Darling Harbour.