Whale season is upon us! Tips for paddlers

Stay clear, and don't chase whales on your SUP.

With the whale season under full swing in Australia, we bring you a lovely encounter with some California Gray Whales off the coast of Malibu. Of course taken by a GoPro, while standing on a Stand Up Paddle board.

SUP seems to be the best way to get up close and personal with sea creatures lately. Either that or the explosion of the sport has seen more people on the water than ever before; but no matter the reason, nobody can deny that stand up paddlers are getting more than their fair share of animal encounters on the water. We’re certainly not complaining.

If you’re one of those lucky stand up paddlers who live on the east coast (and maybe the west coast) of Australia, chances are you’ll spot a whale this winter. Every year from around June to October, Humpback whales migrate north from the Antarctic waters down south. Chasing the warmer water brings them right up alongside the Australian coastline, often only a few hundred meters from shore. Certainly within reach of a stand up paddle board.

But before you grab your board and start paddling, there are some rules and regulations involved with getting in close proximity to whales, here’s some tips.

Paddle craft are the best form of vessel (yes, they are a vessel) to watch whales from, but while paddling you must observe the same rules as sailing boats and even motor boats. At all times, you must endeavor to stay 100m from whales in all directions. You also cannot approach from directly behind (chase the whales) or paddle in front of the whales and wait for them to swim to you.

If a whale does swim towards you, either slowly paddle away from it. Or sit down on your board and let the whale come to you. Sitting on your stand up paddle board is the SUP version of turning off the motor, so if a whale wants to have a closer look at you, let it do so and consider yourself extremely lucky.

Be extra careful if the whale pods have calves in tow. These are large animals, but a human falling off a SUP can still startle them.

There are a few types of watercraft you cannot use to go and observe these natural beauties, including jet skis, underwater scooters, parasails and hovercraft. All of which are noisy and disruptive, so must stay at least 300m away from animals at all times. ‘

Finally, a word of warning with video evidence of such encounters. If you are lucky enough to get extremely close to a whale (as in the video below). Before you post it online, be very very sure you’ve followed the rules. You wouldn’t be the first excited paddler to chase down a whale, post the video and receive hundreds of angry letters from conservationists and whale lovers about how you broke the rules.

So stick to the rules, share your video online and enjoy the wonderful experience of getting up close and personal with a whale this winter. For more information on stand up paddling with whales, read this info page from the Department of Environment. Happy watching!