Protecting the gentle giants of Ningaloo Reef

Ningaloo Reef offers plenty of marine wildlife experiences, and they’re all on the animals’ terms.

Author: Carolyn Beasley

Out beyond the breakers at Ningaloo Reef, I’m marvelling at the colour contrasts, the deep blue, the coral-studded turquoise lagoon and the dusty orange Cape Range National Park beyond. Blasting through my daydream, a young humpback whale explodes into view, launching its whole body clear of the water, and landing with an outlandish splash.

Small pods of humpback whales are literally everywhere out here, some breaching, some chasing each other, and some sliding along peacefully, surprising us with their fish-breath exhalations beside the boat.

I’ve joined Kings Ningaloo Reef Tours for an eco sealife snorkelling tour, and my heart races with excitement. Perhaps today is the day I’ll swim with a whale shark, a manta ray, or even a mighty humpback whale.

A Marine Bonanza

UNESCO World Heritage-listed Ningaloo Reef is one of the biggest fringing reefs in the world, stretching 300 kilometres from the Muiron Islands to Red Bluff. Each year, the mass spawning of the corals here cues the arrival of the migratory whale sharks, a toothless giant that feeds only on plankton. The peak of the whale shark season is March to July, with stragglers sometimes found outside these months.

Plankton also attracts another ocean giant, the manta ray. These harmless rays are found in the waters of Ningaloo Reef year-round, particularly near the hamlet of Coral Bay.

In the early 1990s, interest in swimming with whale sharks and manta rays intensified, and today, the in-water interactions with these species at Ningaloo Reef is a best practice ecotourism model that puts the welfare of the animals first.

The Humpback Highway

The plankton-feeding fish are not the only giants here, and each year between June and October, they share the ocean with thousands of humpback whales. The whales migrate along Australia’s Coral Coast to warm northern waters before returning to Antarctica.

After being hunted to as few as 1,000 individuals by the 1960s, the west coast population of humpbacks now sits at around 45,000. So healthy is this population, that it is no longer listed as threatened.

Taking into account this remarkable recovery, Western Australia’s Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (DBCA) commenced a trial in 2016, permitting tour companies already licensed for swims with Ningaloo’s whale sharks, to also offer humpback swims. Humpback interaction licenses have now been issued to experienced marine operators.

From April to July, tours focus on viewing whale sharks. But in the crossover month of July, and through to September or October whale shark numbers dwindle and humpbacks are plentiful, meaning adventurous visitors can add swimming with a leviathan to their list of Ningaloo possibilities.

Safety First

Before anyone dives in, it’s vital to understand the rules put in place by DBCA to safeguard swimmers and prevent stress to marine animals.

For whale shark interactions, only one vessel is permitted to be within 250 metres of a whale shark. The maximum number of swimming guests is 10 plus two crew at a time, and swimmers must be at least three metres from the animal’s body and four metres from the tail. Swimmers are not permitted to be in front of the whale shark, use flash photography or touch the animal. Manta ray tours are conducted in a similarly sensitive way, with a small group following an experienced guide.

Humpback whales are large, heavy mammals, and additional safety measures are in place. Firstly, operators must use a spotter plane to observe the whales. Swims may not be attempted if a mother has a young calf less than half her size, or if the whales are displaying dangerous behaviours like breaching, tail slapping or head-lunging. The skipper needs to carefully consider weather conditions, and underwater visibility.

Only seven swimmers plus two crew are permitted in the water with humpback whales at once, and swimmers may only approach a whale to within 30 metres. If a whale approaches, the swimmers must attempt to maintain at least 15 metres separation.

Gina Broadbent, crew member and marine biologist explains the safety message.

“They are 40-tonne animals, so we need people to be able to swim 100 or 200 metres unassisted, just so that if there is a whale approaching us, we can move back,” Gina says. This point is communicated to guests on booking, and also during the briefing onboard.

“The skipper is constantly checking the conditions and the behaviours, and we’ll put our photographer in first, just to see how the whales react to human presence,” Gina explains.

While interactions with whales in the water are not certain, operators report around 80 percent success rate for humpback interactions in August and September.

“There’s no guarantees with wildlife, that’s the only guarantee!” Gina says. She notes that with so many diverse marine animals living at Ningaloo, sometimes guests have different underwater encounters than what they expect.

“But Ningaloo is always a really awesome experience,” Gina says. “I just love taking people out to see the reef and the wildlife. For a lot of people, this adventure changes their life. It’s so special, that I get to share that with them.”

Nature calls the shots

Standing on the platform at the back of the boat in a wetsuit; mask and snorkel on my face, I’m waiting for the cue to jump. Already today I’ve spotted a dozen sea turtles, dolphins riding the bow wave, a disappearing dugong, and a harmless baby reef shark.

I’ve seen more humpbacks from the boat than I can count, but as I plunge into the bottomless ocean, it’s a massive whale shark that’s gliding towards me. Its cavernous mouth is open wide, filtering plankton as its seven-metre body passes me by. Awestruck, I’m taking in its muscular, spotty body, and the elegant swish of its tail.

Like my fellow swimmers, I’m cheering with delight, high on being so close to a wild marine animal. It’s thrilling to know that places like this exist, where the animals interact, or may choose not to, on their own terms.