A kayaker had the experience of a lifetime when a Southern Right Whale calf popped up next to his kayak off the NSW South Coast.
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Matt Burnett had paddled out about 200 metres into the bay from the Lions Beach, near Pambula on Sunday after seeing some whales.
“There they were, just hanging around. Then the mum disappeared and the calf came right up to me,” Matt said.
His video, taken with a small waterproof camera, shows just how close the calf came to the kayak, swimming underneath and then breaking the surface literally centimetres from Matt.
“I have never been that close. Then they just kept playing for about 20 minutes but they were in the bay for about an hour and a half in total,” Matt said.
On Facebook later that afternoon Matt posted: “Had one of the most epic experiences ever this morning when this baby Southern Right Whale? swam up to say hello. I was kayaking off Pambula Beach when the mother and calf who had been hanging around the bay started approaching me slowly. The mother disappeared from sight while the calf came right up to have a look. Then they continued on playing around for another 20 minutes. Pretty stoked with the encounter as you can hear haha.”