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Australia

Rare southern right whale calf sighting a thrilling start to NSW far south coast whale watching season

Rare southern right whale calf sighting a thrilling start to NSW far south coast whale watching season

The sighting of a southern right whale and her calf along the NSW far south coast has excited locals, photographers and marine experts alike as the whale watching season in the region kicks off.

August marks the time of year when some whales were still heading north as part of their annual migration on Australia’s east coast, while others were heading south.

In that crossover came the unique sighting of what appeared to be a white southern right whale calf.

“Any white animal, like we’ve seen with Migaloo, does get the attention of many people around Australia if not the world,” said wildlife scientist Dr Vanessa Pirotta.

“A small percentage of southern right whales are born very white, and in this case, this animal is known as a gray morph.

“Unfortunately, it’s not likely to stay white its entire life and will most likely become darker as it gets to adulthood.”

white whale calf emerges from the water
Southern right whales reproduce slower than other species so sighting a calf is a rare event.(Supplied: Peter Harris)

The southern right whale reproduced at a slower rate compared to the humpback, and was vulnerable to a number of threats in the post-whaling era including entanglement in fishing gear, ship strikes, acoustic pollution and even Killer Whales.

Dr Pirotta said although the current “salt and peppery” appearance of the calf wouldn’t remain, its existence had buoyed many working to ensure the survival of the species.

a white whale calf swimming in the water
The whale watching season usually doesn’t start until mid-August on the NSW far south coast but this calf is proof the mammals have arrived early.(Supplied: Peter Harris)

“It’s also an opportunity to see other species such as the southern right whale which is unfortunately not recovering as well as the humpback whale population,” Dr Pirotta said.

“When we do see one it’s of great significance because any contribution or addition to the southern right whale population is a special one for all of us.”

pods on the move

Mid-August usually marked the start of whale watching season on the NSW far south coast, but cruise operators were organizing tours early off the coasts of Bermagui, Merimbula and Eden.

a whale jumping out of the ocean
Humpbacks are usually more “acrobatic” and “energetic”, according to Mr Millar.(Supplied: Sapphire Coastal Adventures)

“We’ve had a great stream of southbound whales for a few weeks now,” said Simon Millar, director of Sapphire Coastal Adventures.

“We didn’t use to start until the end of August… [but] we’ve had multiple pods off Merimbula.

“It looks like it’s going to be an amazing season.”

Last year’s whale watching season was thwarted by COVID-19 restrictions, and this year tourism operators hoped to make an uninterrupted comeback.

Mr Millar also found the sighting of the southern right whale and her white calf to be unique, after not having spotted the species in three years.

“The southern right whales aren’t as typically energetic or acrobatic on the surface as the humpback whales,” he said.

“We tend to watch the humpback whales more even when the southern rights are around, but it was still great to see that new-born calf.”

a man and woman sit on the railing of their boat with their dog sitting in front of them
Mr Millar and his wife Jessica had not seen a southern right whale in three years before spotting the white calf.(Supplied: David Rogers Photography)

The sighting occurred ahead of the Walawaani Muriyira-Waraga Bermagui Whale Event on August 13 which marked the official opening of the 2022 season.

The event would celebrate the cultural significance of the annual migration to the local Yuin people and would feature an ocean paddle out to welcome the whales.

a big whale in the water next to a smaller white whale
The southern right whale and her white calf traveling along the NSW far south coast.(Supplied: Richard Gonzalez, Insta @the.shot.father)

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Technology

Halo 2’s ‘Impossible’ $20,000 Challenge Finally Conquered

Halo 2's 'Impossible' $20,000 Challenge Finally Conquered

Master Chief stands next to Sergeant Johnson in Halo 2.

screenshot: Bungie/IGDB

They said it was impossible and, for nearly two decades, that seemed to be the case. But last night, a streamer named Jervalin beat Halo 2‘s “LASO deathless” challenge, earning a cool $20,000 in the process. Talk about finishing the fight.

Let’s rewind. Earlier this summer, the YouTuber Charles “Cr1tikal” White Jr.. posted a $5,000 bounty to beat Halo 2 on the highest difficulty setting, with every bonus challenge modifier turned on, without dying. In the 18 years since Halo 2‘s 2004 release on Xbox, no one had ever published evidence of completing the challenge. White’s challenge stipulates that the whole run is streamed, either on YouTube or Twitch. By July, no one had successfully stepped up to the plate, so last month, White tacked an extra $15,000 onto the bounty.

Most observers keeping tabs on the challenge had their money on Jervalin—a relatively private streamer who’s picked up a modest following for setting world records on a variety of Halo challenges—being the first person to complete it. Sure enough, late last night, I’ve crossed the finish line. (Here’s the archived stream.)

Bungie/Jervalin

Neither White nor Jervalin could be reached for comment in time for publication.

Jervalin was remarkably chill for finishing what some people, including White Jr., have called the “hardest challenge in all of gaming,” addressing viewers in the even-handed tone you’d use while moving on to the next addendum in a mostly empty community board meeting.

“All right, chat,” he said. “I think we did it. I think we fucking did it. Imagine that. Two years ago, I said, ‘I think this is impossible.’ Imagine fucking that.”

Whether or not Halo 2‘s “LASO deathless” challenge really is the “hardest… in gaming” is, of course, a subjective measure. But it’s definitely up there. You have to activate all of the game’s skulls, or gameplay modifiers that typically ramp up the difficulty. The Catch skull, for instance, makes enemies toss grenades more frequently. Famine, meanwhile, means enemies drop half the ammo they usually would. Mythic doubles the health of all enemies, while Angry increases the enemy’s fire rate. Blind removes your HUD. Assassins turns enemies invisible. (It’s not technically there skulls, however. For the challenge, Envy is left off, because that one grants you invisibility too, which does not make Halo 2 more difficult, for obvious reasons.) All together, when you turn every skull on and play on Legendary, the game’s highest difficulty setting, you more or less create a set of conditions that ensures you die instantly if you take any damage.

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Jervalin had to rely on a few exploits to finish the challenge. To wit: He brought a banshee, a violet-colored aerial vehicle with a powerful cannon, into the final boss fight against Tartarus on the “Great Journey” level. That final fight takes place on a series of circumferential platforms hovering over an abyss. With pinpoint precision, he used the banshee’s cannon to send waves of foes careening off the edge as they spawn—before they get a chance to really even fight.

I’ve been covering the Halo community for a while now, and can’t recall a time where I’ve seen players pretty unanimous in an opinion, let alone a positive one. Sure, halo-infinitethe latest game in the series, has its issues, which players are not shy about criticizing. But there remains a reverence among even the biggest names for Bungie’s original games since the mid-2000s, and the mind-bogglingly impressive feats players are able to pull off.

The run garnered praising desde Halo streamers like Remy “Mint Blitz” and Luc “HiddenXperia.” Emanuel Lovejoy, the coach for Cloud 9, arguably the best professional Halo team on the planet right now, called Jervalin to “legend.” so did Spacestation Gaming’s UberNick. the Halo pro Kyle Elam noted how yesterday’s scrims—basically, matches between pro players that don’t count toward the official seasonal record—were put on pause so players could collectively watch Jervalin get it done. “Gonna need Jervalin to make a Twitter so we can actually @ this legend [clapping hands emoji],” Halo esports analyst and caster Alexander “Shyway” Hope said. It has been a genuine delight to witness such universal acclaim from all corners of the community.

But the most heartwarming moment—the sort of moment that proves Este, not the toxicity that inhales so much oxygen out of the room, is what video games are all about—happened in the final seconds of the stream: Jervalin’s family runs into the stream, embracing him in an almost suffocatingly tight bear hug. $20,000 is nice. That’s nicer.

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