A southern right whale in Wallis Lake, at Forster-Tuncurry on the NSW Mid North Coast, could be getting ready to give birth, according to those monitoring its wellbeing.
The Department of Environment, Planning and Industry sent officers to monitor the whale.
Matt Coombe is the skipper of a whale-watching boat and saw the mammal come into the lake early on Tuesday and head under a bridge that links the twin towns.
He said the lucky people on the boat with him were astounded.
"Just blown away, they could not believe it," he said.
Susan Crocetti, a marine wildlife team leader with National Parks and Wildlife Services, said the whale appeared to be pregnant.
"She's currently sort of milling around just on the other side of the bridge," she said.
Unusual this far north
In contrast to humpback whales, which typically give birth in Queensland waters, southern right whales normally give birth in waters off Tasmania, Victoria and southern NSW.
However they are also sometimes seen as far north as Moreton Bay in Queensland.
Ms Crocetti said there were only around 300 southern right whales in the south-east population in Australia and only around 20 to 25 of the endangered mammals were seen in NSW waters each year.
"Even less give birth, so last year we had eight calves in New South Wales, which was our record year that we've had in the last 50 years," she said.
"So every one of those calves is really important."
She said seeing a southern right whale in NSW was a "real treasure".
Sight to behold
People have flocked to the shore in Forster-Tuncurry hoping to catch a glimpse of the whale.
Matt Coombe said in his two decades of running whale watching tours he had never seen anything like it.
"We've been excited all day," he said.
"It's very unusual, it's never happened ever before – it's a very shallow lake system.
"The whale itself doesn't seem to be in distress at all."
Mr Coombe called photographer Shane Chalker when he saw the whale come in and he was equally amazed.
"I've seen two other whales in Wallis Lake but they were right at the entrance and didn't go on the western side of the bridge, whereas this big southern right whale has actually ended up on the western side of the bridge — it's passed under the bridge," Mr Chalker said.
