HUMPBACK WHALE INSHORE.

Press, Volume LXVII, Issue 20273, 26 June 1931, Page 12

HUMPBACK WHALE INSHORE.

INTERESTING VISITOR TO CLIFFORD BAY. [From Otra Special Hei'O&tbs..] KAIEOURA, June 25. When the members of the Railway Board were at Clifford Bay this morning admiring tho beautiful sweep of coastline towards the Sounds, a big humpback whale made it the occasion for a visit to the inlet, and as though for the special benefit of tho party, swam close inshore, turning broadside on and displaying its great bulk only thirty yards from tho beach. One of the Board members first sighted the whale over a mile away by its spouting. It then headed straight for the bay, and was presently the target for a battery of cameras. Frequently stopping to spout, its great snout, shining back, hump, and enormous tail were in full view. Presently it came in still closer, right into the breakers, and inside a post driven in tho sea by the surveyors; and just as it seemed that the next big wave must land it high and dry on the sand, the humpback turned in leisurely fashion, and slowly swam back into deep water. As it wallowed in "the breakers the Board members were able, to estimate its length, which they set down at over 25 feet. When tho party reached Kekerangu, Mr E. F. Hcaly, M.P., sent a telegram to the whaling station at Okukari, in the Tory Channel, advising the whalers that a good catch awaited them at Clifford Bay.