An “incredible experience” is how Albany’s Colleen Smetham has described an encounter with a whale off Western Australia’s south coast.
Ms Smetham and her husband, Paul, were on their boat in King George Sound on Thursday when they anchored for lunch.
It was then they spotted a southern right whale approaching their location off Limestone Head.
“It seemed to be heading our way,” she said.
“So we pulled the anchor up just thinking in case it gets caught up in the rope, or we need to disappear quickly.”
Right place, right whale
The whale then spent about 20 minutes circling the vessel, bobbing its head above water close to the stunned couple.
“It was just so calm and gentle and really curious. It didn’t even glance at the boat,” Ms Smetham said.
“It was just incredible … it was looking at us.
“We were in the right place at the right time and met the right whale.”
The amazing encounter was caught on camera.
Researchers have been tracking southern right whales’ migration from Australia’s south coast to waters off Antarctica.
Southern rights visit the southern WA coast from June to October, with Albany one of the prime spots to sight the species.
