University of Otago students (from front) Amy Jordan, Mila Smith de Zeeuw and Ella Peterson marvel at humpback whales swimming in the upper harbour yesterday afternoon. PHOTOS: STEPHEN JAQUIERY They told Mila Smith de Zeeuw: ‘‘Go study in Dunedin. It’ll be great. You’ll have a whale of a time’’. But the 18-year-old University of Otago first-year student remained sceptical — until yesterday afternoon. When word of three humpback whales swimming in Otago Harbour spread around the university and reached her and her friends, they all raced down to the Steamer Basin to see if they could catch a glimpse. ‘‘It was just through word of mouth and so we quickly raced down to the harbour and we got to spot them which was pretty cool.’’ Coming from the Coromandel, she said she had seen ‘‘a few whales’’ over the years, but not humpbacks up close like this. A humpback whale makes its way up Otago Harbour, as far as the Steamer Basin yesterday. It was among three spotted in the harbour yesterday afternoon. She said it was ‘‘definitely special’’ and she felt a strange compulsion to jump into the frigid water and swim with them. ‘‘We did talk about it, but I thought it would be a bit inappropriate to jump in. ‘‘We didn’t have any swimming attire with us and, you know, there’s the environmental issues of jumping in with whales as well. ‘‘It was the best study break.’’ University of Otago Marine Studies Centre curator Aaron Heimann said it was not uncommon to see humpback whales in the harbour, but it was a little unusual for them to be so far up the harbour. He believed they might have been following food — usually microscopic marine life, small schooling fish and krill. ‘‘There's quite a bit of krill around at the moment,’’ he said. Adults can grow to such large sizes that they can eat up to 1360kg of food each day. Mr Heimann said the whales were likely taking a short detour into the harbour, as part of their annual migration from the southern polar waters to warmer waters in the north where they would mate and give birth over winter. ‘‘There's been a few whales sighted off the coast — quite active humpbacks breaching and things — in recent days and weeks.’’ john.lewis@odt.co.nz
