Leviathan

See the ships sailing to and fro, and that Leviathan, which you made to sport in the deep.

My son and daughter-in-law, Simon and Jessica, run a whale watching venture on the beautiful NSW south coast (www.merimbulamarina.com). Dolphins, fur seals and sharks are regularly sighted on their tours, together with numerous sea birds, occasionally you will see a dugong or some other unusual creature, but in this post I share some of their amazing photos of the main attraction, the great sea monster - leviathan.

In recent years, thanks to the cessation of whaling, the numbers of these majestic creatures are slowing returning to more sustainable levels. Humpback whales, noted for their long pectoral fins and knobbly heads, are the most common species in these waters. They are social, inquisitive, gentle (surprising, given their bulk) and playful.

Humpbacks migrate enormous distances each year oscillating between their breeding and feeding grounds. They travel to warmer waters during the winter months to mate and give birth and then return to the cold Antarctic oceans for food in spring. It is mothers and their calves swimming slowly southwards in September, October and November that you are most likely to encounter off the coast of Merimbula.

 Humpbacks are famous for their haunting submarine songs. They are also among the most exuberant of whale species - celebrated for their energetic and dramatic antics.

On some days these giants of the sea seem as keen to taste life above the waves as below them. 

Or maybe they're just showing off. 

Look, Mum, no hands!!

Backflips R US

'Applause please... thank you, thank you.'

And now for some synchronised swimming.

Talk about sporting in the deep!! These delightful antics surely explain the origin of having 'a whale of a time'! 

And, no sooner are they here - joyfully performing, than they are gone again, diving once more into the mysterious ocean depths.

Thanks Simon and Jess, for your part in daily enabling our appreciation of these ancient and precious marine mammals.