Authorities have issued a warning to keep away from a rare “white” whale calf spotted alongside its mother off the NSW coast.
“The calf appears to be white but is actually brindle,” NPWS marine wildlife team project officer Andrew Marshall said in a statement.
“Its white areas will darken to gray as it ages — it’s one of around one-in-30 southern right whale calves born with brindle coloring.
“This is a rare event to see a virtually white brindle calf, as southern right whales are mostly very dark, although some have splashes of white called a blaze.”
The mother and her calf were captured on camera via a drone.
“If you look closely at the video you can also see pale gray areas on the mother, who also carries the recessive brindle gene,” Marshall said.
While the duo have sparked a social media frenzy, authorities are reminding people that it’s illegal to approach whales any closer than 300 meters when a calf is present.
The restrictions include via boats, surfboards, paddleboards and kayaks, while drones are also legally required to stay at least 100 meters above the animals.
Stunning vision of the mother and calf was captured off the south coast recently by accredited drone volunteer Maree Jackson from the NSW government’s Right Whale ID research program.
Jackson used her camera’s 7x optical zoom function from above the legal height to capture the stunning close-ups as the “white” calf surfaced for a breath while swimming alongside her mother.
“Curious onlookers are reminded to keep back and give the nursing mother and calf space to rest undisturbed,” Marshall said.
“A calf needs up to 300 liters of milk a day to gain the weight needed for the 5000-kilometre swim back down to Antarctic waters in the coming month, so both the mother and calf need to be left alone so they can rest and feel safe.”