Leigh Whitlock-Watkins/Photo

Published On:Saturday, February 27, 2010

BAHAMIAN boaters were treated to an unusual and exciting sight last weekend as a mother whale and her calf made their way past Paradise Island.

The aquatic mammals were spotted by some intrepid boaters who say they have been waiting all their life to see a whale in the wild.

It is speculated that the whale and her calf were humpbacks, known to migrate to tropical or sub-tropical waters to breed, before returning north to polar waters to feed.

One of the larger whale species, humpbacks are seldom seen in these waters, but are sometimes spotted off the coast of the more easterly islands of Eleuthera and Abaco in far deeper waters.

According to one of the boaters' depth finder, the whales were in around 30 feet of water when they were sighted.

One of the boaters, Kelly Neely, said she was amazed and could not believe that she had been so close to a humpback whale.

"I'd never seen a whale in the wild and to see one that big, so close to the harbour, we were all amazed," she said.

"We hardly saw any of her head, but we saw her tail and her calf was jumping out of the water."

According to Ms Neely, the size of the adult whale's tail told of the enormous size of the creature beneath the waves.

"The tail was huge and we were in a 51-foot boat, she could have easily pushed us away with it," she said.

Humpback whales are on the list of endangered species in some countries, including in the United States, and were once hunted to the brink of extinction. Today their numbers have rebounded and there are approximately 80,000 humpback whales worldwide.

They are now a favourite among whale-watchers, particularly off parts of Australia, Canada and the US.