Video captures majesty of rare Omura’s whale
WATCH THE VIDEO
Stunning new footage has emerged of a rare Omura’s whale spotted off the coast of Port Douglas.
Lisa Keller took video of the whale from her boat as it graced the waters of the Great Barrier Reef.
“Very welcome visitor out on the reef today,” she wrote.
Lisa said it was an incredible experience to see the whale, which at first they thought was dolphins.
"While the video may make it appear we were close, we were from a good distance away and I have zoomed in and cropped the video so it looks like we are close,'' she said.
Omura’s whales were only formally identified as a species in 2003 and the first confirmed sighting on the Reef was in 2016.
The crew and guests aboard dive boat Silversonic also caught a rare glimpse of the majestic species - which grows to about 12m long and is believed to live primarily in tropical waters rather than migrating to colder waters to mate - on Tuesday.
Silversonic skipper Shane Down identified the rare mammal near Undine Cay at 9:20am while heading for Agincourt Reef.
“I saw the whale after seeing the blow and there was a commotion on the surface,” Down said at the time.
Omura’s can be seen between November and February, unlike other migratory whales such as humpbacks and minke whales.
One of the smallest members of the rorqual group, little is known about Omura’s whales.
The name is in recognition of Japanese whale scientist, or cetologist, Hideo Omura.
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