In short:
Two rare fin whales have been photographed by drone pilots as the rare species migrate north along WA's coast.
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species → photograph → coast
Researchers say the recorded sightings of the marine mammal add value to the scientific community's understanding of the species, which is often only studied through audio recordings.
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which → say → recordings
The whale migration season along the South West coast is expected to continue until late October.
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season → expect → October
Two separate sightings of rare fin whales has delighted researchers and ocean lovers alike on Western Australia's South West coast.
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sightings → delight → coast
Drone pilots have photographed two separate whales in Geographe Bay, 220 kilometres south of Perth.
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pilots → photograph → Perth
Fin whale numbers are still recovering from the impacts of the whaling industry, which hunted the species to near extinction in the 20th century, killing about 700,000 fin whales.
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which → recover → whales
Fin whales can live to about 70 or 80 years old when left alone, and they have just one calf at a time — making repopulating the dwindling numbers a slow process.
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repopulating → live → numbers
They are second only to blue whales in length, with slender bodies that help them glide through the water at high speed, and tend to remain below the surface, making sightings uncommon.
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sightings → help → surface
'Incredibly unusual' sighting
Geographe Marine Research chair Capri Jolliffe said one of the sightings was very close to shore.
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one → say → shore
"It passed within 50 metres of the land-based observation platform … in really shallow water," she said.
"
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she → pass → water
And then the second one was a bit further out, close to 2 kilometres offshore."
Recorded sightings are so rare that much of what is known about fin whales comes from passive acoustic data, which is recorded by submerging hydrophones in the ocean, rather than observation.
"
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which → record → observation
We basically eavesdrop on all the whales that are out there,"Dr Jolliffe said.
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Jolliffe → eavesdrop → whales
"They all make different sounds that are species- and population-specific.
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that → make → species-
It's quite an efficient and effective way of monitoring where whales go and when they're there.
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they → monitor → ?
"
Drones bring a whole new perspective
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Drones → bring → perspective
In Australia, drone pilots are subject to strict regulations when it comes to how close they can fly to marine mammals.
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they → come → mammals
In WA, drones must stay at least 60 metres away, while in New South Wales and Queensland, the limit is 100m.
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limit → stay → Wales
Macquarie University marine scientist Vanessa Pirotta said citizen scientists who followed the rules when using their drones were making valuable contributions to ocean research.
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who → say → research
"When documenting a whale that we know so little about and a threatened species at that, it supports our Australian understanding of these species," she said.
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she → document → species
"It's incredibly special because we can share this information through the scientific communities."
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we → share → communities
Dr Pirotta said for researchers the footage was much more than "just a sighting".
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footage → say → sighting
"For many of us it's a wonderful sighting, and it may be indicative of potential movements that we hadn't really observed, but only acoustically documented," she said.
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she → observe → that
Drone pilot and South West local Scott Baxter had taken his family out for a coastal drive on Monday afternoon when he spotted a spray of water out on the horizon.
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he → take → horizon
He said he initially thought he was capturing footage of a different species.
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he → say → species
"As I was filming it, the whole time I just thought it was a small blue whale," Mr Baxter said.
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Baxter → film → it
"I had no idea that the fin whales existed in Geograph Bay.
"
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whales → have → Bay
The Aporia