The Quiet Crossing
 
A steady travel frame as the pair move from lighter shallows into deeper blue, with the ocean’s natural gradient creating a clean divide across the image. The mother leads the line and the calf holds position behind her, showing that calm, consistent formation you often see when they’re moving alongshore.
 
⭐About this Pair⭐
 
This specific southern right whale mother and calf became known along the NSW coastline in 2025 and were significant as the first confirmed southern right whale mother and calf seen on the east  coast during the 2025 season. She was first seen early in the season off Wollongong travelling south alone. Weeks later she returned with a newborn calf, carrying a clear scar along the right side of her body that appeared as if she had been stuck by a boat. By mid-July they were moving north slowly, staying close to the coastline, when they were filmed being hit by a small tinnie near Coledale. They resurfaced and seemed unaffected, later spending a couple of days off Bondi Beach where many people were able to see them from shore. A few days after that, I relocated them off the Central Coast near Norah Head, where they spent the day in calm, clear water off Budgewoi. I was standing on the sand at the water’s edge while they rested no more than twenty metres away. I followed their movement from Norah Head through to Newcastle, contacting ORRCA each time I found them so their progress north could be monitored.