'Fabulous' sight in shallow Aussie bay captured on drone video
'Fabulous' footage captured off Australia's coast this week has provided a glimpse into the 'beautiful' relationship between whales and dolphins.
What started out as a 'drizzly day' in Bunbury, south of Perth, quickly turned into "quite a lot of excitement' when staff at the nearby Dolphin Discovery Centre were alerted to a young humpback whale that appeared to have gotten 'a bit lost' and wandered into a shallow bay popular with tourists.
Employees set out with their scopes and binoculars to make sure the migrating animal wasn't injured, but were unable to get close enough, prompting them to deploy a drone and a boat.
'This time of year, tens of thousands of humpback whales are travelling past our coastline,' the non-profit group posted online, adding sometimes the creatures get 'spooked' by a predator or entangled in fishing gear and seek shelter in calmer waters.
However, after observing the whale from the air and the vessel, staff were relieved to see that it was not injured, and in fact seemed to be having a ball with a handful of new friends. Stunning footage shows at least four very vocal dolphins greet and play with the humpback as it rolls around in the ocean.
'The dolphins took over and while playing and interacting with each other, they slowly guided their large cousin out of the bay towards the deeper waters of Geographe Bay heading back up north,' the Dolphin Discovery Centre explained, thrilling thousands of Aussie viewers who shared their excitement over the 'cool' sight.
📸 Visitors spot incredible sight in tiny Aussie bay: 'Very special'
🐳 Photo of elusive creature off Aussie coast reveals incredible feat
🌊 Amazing drone footage confirms start of exciting phenomenon off coast
Speaking to Yahoo News, Dr Vanessa Pirotta, a wildlife scientist in the Marine Predator Research Group at Macquarie University, also couldn't contain her elation over the 'fabulous' video which shows a 'very playful humpback whale' interacting with bottlenose dolphins.
'It's really beautiful to see. The dolphins next to this school bus-sized whale offers a great size comparison,' she said.
'During the winter migration, we sometimes see whales and dolphins swimming together. Most of the time this is fleeting, but sometimes, like this footage, you get cracker interactions like this. The whale is rolling around, [and] they appear to be looking at each other.
'Whales use low frequency sounds, while dolphins make high frequency sounds, so I would assume these dolphins may have been buzzing around this whale. All in all, it looks like a very playful and innocent interaction between these two species.'
Dr Pirotta said that while drones offer a great perspective on such interactions, which are often not seen from a boat or on land, both whales and dolphins are protected in Aussie waters, requiring spectators to follow certain restrictions. In WA, drones must stay a minimum of 60 metres away from both species.
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