A Sunday morning, late last year. I’d taken my three-year-old daughter on our daily dawn walk out to Angourie while her mother and younger sister slept. The surf was small, waist-high, and apart from two longboarders surfing the inside, the place was deserted. We walked out to the end of the point and were splashing in the rockpools when we saw it.
The first whale breached at full speed, breaking clear of the surface, taking flight within the gravitational limits of a 40-ton humpback. The breach was only a hundred metres off the end of the point. We could feel the whale land. That was just the start. A pod of humpbacks – two calves amongst them – had pulled off the highway south for the morning to have some fun. For the next half hour, they put on a show – full breaches, half breaches, tail slaps, fin salutes and belly rolls – all seemingly choreographed for some great unspoken purpose, my daughter and I the only audience to the spectacle.
Fifty years ago, these whales were almost wiped out, and yet here they were, back near pre-whaling numbers, partying like it was 1999 BC. It’s potentially the most incredible recovery of any species, anywhere on earth. It’s hope.
In the oceans around Australia, there’s a lot happening right now. Species like the humpback whale and great white shark and even the humble Australian salmon are thriving. Marine environments and fisheries in Australia for the most part are well managed. The place feels alive. Paddle out pretty much anywhere on the Australian coast and you’ll sense of it.
But – there’s always a ‘but’ – at the same time, a silent shift is happening that might upend all of it. Waves of record sea surface temps – driven by climate change – are reshaping life under the surface. Warm currents are moving species into new habitats, with often disastrous results. The ghosts of Tasmania’s giant kelp forests now haunt bare reefs. An ocean two degrees warmer won’t look like the ocean we know today. No amount of ‘managing’ will fix it.
The big picture is problematic. When we get out of the way and let nature do its thing, it’s incredibly resilient. It thrives. Our whale pod is still partying right now. The hard thing however seems to be getting out of our own way and thinking a few generations ahead.
Roaring Journals Edition Two out now.
All proceeds go to Surfrider Foundation Australia and Surfers For Climate.
