BRYDE'S WHALE IN THE COASTAL WATERSOF EASTERN AUSTRALIAROBERT A. PATERSON* AND STEPHEN VAN DYCK*ABSTRACT

While documented capture of B. edeni in eastern Australian waters islimited to only a few records, inshore observations suggest that the species
is not uncommon. Aspects of osteology and baleen morphology in twolarge stranded whales now housed in the Queensland Museum confirm
their identity as Bryde's whales. Breaching behaviour and the "working" offish schools is discussed.

INTRODUCTION

Bryde's whale (Balaenoptera edeni Anderson, 1878) is widely distributed
between latitudes 40°N and 40°S (Omura, 1959). Although Bryde's whale has
been captured in the south-west Pacific Ocean to the east of Australia(Kawamura, 1980) very few captures have been reported from the waters
adjacent to the east Australian mainland which lies between latitudes 11°37'S
and 39°04'S (Fig. 1). Information will be presented in this paper detailing
Bryde's whale captures, strandings and field observations in the coastal watersof eastern Australia. Specimens mentioned in this paper are lodged in thefollowing collections: Queensland Museum O or JM), Victorian Museum (C).
CAPTURES

Between 1952 and 1962 shore stations at Tangalooma (27°11 'S, 153°23'£)and Byron Bay (28°37'S, 153°38'£) processed 7423 humpback whales(Paterson and Paterson, 1984) and the industry was based almost exclusively
on that species. However, Bryden (1978) noted that on 14 September 1962 a42 foot 3 inch [12.87 m] male sei or Bryde's whale was captured by the chaser
Norfolk Whaler five miles north of Cape Byron and Best (1977) noted that hehad received data concerning two Bryde's whales captured from the east
Australian shore stations in the early 1960s. Those captures and the small
numbers captured from the shore station at Carnarvon in Western Australia(Chittleborough, 1959) occurred during the decline in humpback whale
stocks in Australian waters and may have been associated with attempts to*Queensland Museum, PO Box 300, South Brisbane, Queensland 4101 Australia

Sci. Rep. Whales Res. Inst.,
No. 39, 1988, 21-29

22PATERSON AND VAN DYCK152·

146"

140"E12s

18"

QUEENSLAND

1- - - - - - - - - -/-~~

Ir-·\\.r.J

Cape ByronIII30°

NEW SOUTH WALES

IIr-~,,"III' "-,_,~---1<.

I',

35•

Corio BayFig. 1. Eastern Australian mainland showing localities mentioned in text.

diversify the operations of the shore stations. No systematic survey of Bryde's
whale abundance was conducted and in 1962, when humpback whale stocks
were commercially exhausted, the east Australian shore stations ceased allwhaling activity.
STRAND IN GS

Skeletal elements of two whales, positively identified as Bryde's whales at thetime of stranding by the characteristic three longitudinal ridges on the dorsal
aspects of their heads (Omura, 1962) have been deposited in the Victorianand Queensland Museums (Table 1 and Figs 2 and 3). The two specimens are
Sci. Rep. Whales Res. Inst.,
No. 39, 1988

、23

AUSTRALIANBRYDE'S NHALESFig.2. Brydeswhale
ss
trandedontheeastAustraliancoast.
A. SpecimenC884I,fromV叫 0
1ia.B.SpecimenJM4386,fromQueensland.
SeeTableIforlocalitydetails.

. BRYDESWHALESSTRANDEDO NTHEEASTAUSTRALIANCOAST
TABLEI

Registration
NumberDateandlocationofstrandingSpec
imendetails

Refer
ence

C8841

25.
v
ii.1968
LimeburnerC
reek,
CorioBay,Victoria。
04S,144。
24E)(38Male,6.1mlong,Postcranialskeletonnotcolected.

Dixon(1970)

JM438630.
x.
1982Stew
a1tIsland,
GreatSandyStr
ait,
Queensland,152。
57E)
(
25°
38S

Sexunknown,
14.
35m long.
,
Almostcomp
leteskeletonbut
somec
au
dalv
e1te
b
1aem
i
ssi
ng.

Pate
r
son
(
1984)

froma
n
i
mal
sofd
ispar
atep
hysicalmatu
rity.Watson(1981)notedt
hatt
her
e1
4.3and 14.
6mmaximumlength
sofmaleandfemaleBrydeswhalesa
esrespectivelybutt
hemaximuml
engthsofmaleandfemaleBrydeswhal
S口.Rep. WJ凶lesRes.Inst.
,，No.3
9,1988

24

PATERSONANDVANDYCK

Fig.3. Brydes whaleJM438
6,str
andedatStew
a1tIsland, Great Sandy Strait,
Queensland.

capturedfromt
heGreatBarrierIslandshorestationinNewZealandbetween
1956and 1
96
1 wer
e14.
6and 14.
9m r
espectively(Gaskin,1968).C8841
measured6.
1m inlengthandt
heincompletef
u
sio
nofi
t
scr
ani
alsut
u
r
esi
n
‑
叫 wasjuvenilewhereasJM4386measured 14.
35m i
n
di
cate
sthatthea
ninlength and the Jumbo‑caudal por
tio
nofi
t
svertebralcolumnshowsgrosschangeofs
pon
dylit
i
sdeformansw
ithassoci
ateds
pi
n
alc
an
alst
e
n
o
s
i
s.Thosepathologicalchangesa
r
ec
on
s
i
der
edt
obeamainfe
st
at
i
o
nofadvancedage(Paterson,1984)anda
r
ep
r
ob
ablycausedbyr
e
pet
i
t
iv
ev
ertebralligamentoustraction(Lagi
er,1977).
Omura(1959)andOmura,Kasuya,KatoandWada(1981)afterdetai
ledstudieso
fBrydeswhalesfromthenorthandsouthPaci
ficOceanandt
heIn
‑di
a
nOceancon
sider
edt
hatt
h
eappearancesoft
hea
nter
ioraspect
soft
hen
asa
lboneswere themostd
ist
inct
iv
eo
steologicalc
har
acter
isti
cofBrydeswhaleswit
hregard t
odifferent
iat
io
nfromseiwhales(Bαlaeno
pter
abor
ealis
Lesson,1828)
.Thea
nter
io
rmarginsoft
henasalbonesareconcaveandin‑dined forwar
ds on t
he
irout
e
ras
pect
si
na
ll specimensofBrydeswhales
examinedbyOmurawhereasthos
eofs
eiwhalesareconvexors
traightandneveri
nclinedforwardsontheiroutera
spects.Theskul
lofJM4386,showingthecharacteristi
cnasalbones,isillustr
atedinF
ig.4.Theskul
lofC8441hasbeenexaminedanditsnasa
lbonesareconsisten
twit
hOmurasd
escr
ipt
io
nof
Brydesw
hale.
Par
tofab
alee
np
lat
efromJM4386i
sshowninF
ig.5.Theincomplete
Sci.Rep.WhalesRes.I
nst.
,
No.39, 1988

s

AUSTRALIANBRYDE WHALES号︑rl
−
FIl﹂
−

ι0・5町、Fig.4. Dorsalviewoft
hesk
ulofBryd
凸 whaleJM4
386.
目 Res.I
nst.
,
Sci.R
ep.W，／回 lNo.39,1988

25

26

PATERSONANDVANDYCKEl占ωF圃11．
．
︒に﹂OFig.5.B
aleensamplefromBry
deswhaleJM438
6.
S
ci.Rep.WhalesRes.I
出 t.
,
No.39,1988AUSTRALIANBRYDESWHALES

27

SOm mFig.6.Dors
alvie
woft
henas
albonesofBr
ydeswhaleJ2I
7l3(thes
kulhadbeen
sawnl
ongi
tu
di
nalyloalowi
tswallmounting)
.

natu
r
eo
ft
hi
ssampleprec
lu
dedadetermina
ti
onoft
hea
f
fi
ni
t
ie
sofJM4386w
ithBe
sts(1977） i
nshore and offshor
eforms.
Specimen]21713i
nt
heQueensl
and Museum isfromawhal
ewh
ic
hstrande
datTinCanBayI
nlet(25。
51S,153。
02E)i
n196
5.Noba
le
e
nsamp
les
ord
i
agnosticphotographsoft
hest
r
ande
dani
ma
lar
eav
a
il
ab
lefo
rst
ud
y.The
specimen wasc
on
si
der
e
dt
obet
ha
tofas
eiwhaleandwasmountedanddisplayedi
nt
h
eQue
ens
landMuseum.Th
eMuseumha
srec
ent
lybeenre‑locatedandtheopportuni
tyha
sar
isent
oexaminethespecimeni
ndetail.The
nasal bonesar
eill
ustr
at
e
din Fig. 6 and t
heirappear
anc
ei
stypi
calo
fa
Br
ydeswhale.Omuraetal.(1981)notedt
ha
tt
hev
er
tebr
alc
ountofBr
ydesw
hale
si
s54‑55andt
hatofseiwhales56‑57.
Somev
er
teb
r
a
eofJM4386and]21
713ar
em
issi
ng,t
hev
er
tebr
alcountbei
ng49i
neachs
peci
men.S
peci
‑
mensofbot
hBrydesands
eiwhalesexaminedbyoneofus(S.
V.
D.)in1
987,int
heRijksmuseumVanNatuurlりkeHis
toire,Leiden,！、~ ederland (includir】
thePalauSug
ispecimenr
eferredt
obyOmura, 1959)havec
onfirmedt
heSci.Rep.WhalesRes.I
悶 t.
,No.39,1988

28

PATERSON AND VAN DYCKidentity of JM4386 and J21713 as Bryde's whales.
FIELD OBSERVATIONSOne of us (R.A.P.) has monitored the annual migration of humpback whales
from Point Lookout (27°26'S, 153°33'E) and Cape Moreton (27°02'S,153°28'E) during the months of June to October yearly since 1978 (Paterson,1987). During this period (an approximate total of 320 watching days) incidental sightings of minke and Bryde's whales were recorded. The latter werepositively identified when the characteristic rostral ridges, described above,were seen. It was not uncommon for Bryde's whales to be seen close inshorenear the headland at Point Lookout and in the surf-lines along adjacentbeaches.
Kawamura (1980) noted that Bryde's whales have peak feeding periods
during early morning and late afternoon and the Point Lookout observations
appeared to support those findings but if schooling fish were present at othertimes during the day behaviour considered characteristic of feeding wasobserved. The behaviour included surface rushes, lunging and circling. On
occasions fish were seen leaping as the whales swam quickly through densely
packed schools.
Watson (1981) noted that Bryde's whales seldom show their flukes andfluke raising was not observed during any of the Point Lookout sightings.
Breaching was occasionally seen but it was not acrobatic, as is that ofhumpback whales. When a Bryde's whale breached it usually emerged partiallyfrom the water and returned in the reverse direction but on two occasions
Bryde's whales were seen to leap clear of the water in a horizontal position
and re-entered by a "belly-flop".
Singles and pairs were the most common groupings and pairs occasionally "worked" adjacent schools of fish. As mentioned above, observations wereconducted at Point Lookout from June to October and no assessment wasmade of Bryde's whale occurrence during the other months of the year. At
this latitude in eastern Australia the sea is warmest in February and coldest inAugust. The average surface temperatures for February and August werereported as 24.3°C and 18.9°C (Paterson, 1986). Although Bryde's whales
were seen in all months from June to October they were most frequently seen
during August and September. Bryden (1978, pls 1-3) showed a photographof a Bryde's whale seen near Cape Moreton (27°02'S, 153°28'E) during aerial
observations in September 1976.
As Bryde's whales seen on successive days at Point Lookout may havebeen the same animals it was not possible to estimate their abundance. However, the observations indicate that Bryde's whales frequent the inshore watersof eastern Australia between latitudes 27°S and 28°S at least during the winterand spring months.
Sci. Rep. Whales Res. Inst.,
No. 39, 1988

AUSTRALIAN BRYDE'S WHALES29ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Mr Malcolm Cox of Project Jonah, Brisbane initially identified specimen
JM4386 and kindly allowed reproduction of his original photographs. Dr Chris
Smeenk, Curator of Mammals at the Rijksmuseum van Natuurlijke Histoire,Leiden, Holland is gratefully acknowledged for his hospitality and assistance
while examinations were made of specimens in his care. Miss Joan Dixon,
Curator of Mammalogy at the Museum of Victoria gave every assistance withregard to specimen C8841 and provided the relevant photograph. Mr Carlos
Picasso of the Queensland Museum photographed the specimens in thatMuseum. Drs Hideo Omura and Seiji Ohsumi were most helpful with advice
in relation to our enquiries.

REFERENCES
BEST, P.B., 1977. Two allopatric forms of Bryde's whales off South Africa. Rep. int. Whal. Commn (specialissue 1): 10-38.
BRYDEN, M.M., 1978. Whales and whaling in Queensland waters. Proc. R. Soc. Qd, 88: v-xviii, pls 1-3. (Thisappears in vol. 89).
CHITTLEBOROUGH, R. G., 1959. Balaenoptera brydei Olsen on the west coast of Australia. Norsk HvalfangstTid., 48(2): 62-66.
DIXON, ]. M., 1970. Two new whale records from Victoria Mesoplodon bowdoini Andrews (Ziphiidae) andBalaenoptera edeni Anderson (Balaenopteridae). Viet. Nat., 87(4): 88-93.
GASKIN, D. E., 1968. The New Zealand cetacea. Fish. Res. Bull., 1: 28.
KAWAMURA, A., 1980. Food habits of the Bryde's whales taken in the south Pacific and Indian Oceans. Sci.
Rep. Whales Res. Inst., 32: 1-23.
LAG!ER, R., 1977. Spondylosis in the whale - an anatomical study of an osteophyte. Scand.]. Rhuematol.,
6(4): 245-249.
OMURA, H., 1959. Bryde's whale from the coast of Japan. Sci. Rep. Whales Res. Inst., 14: 1-33.
OMURA, H., 1962. Further information on Bryde's whale from the coast of Japan. Sci. Rep. Whales Res. Inst.,
16: 7-18.
OMURA, H., T. KASUYA, H. KATO and S. WADA, 1981. Osteological study of the Bryde's whale from thecentral south Pacific and Indian Ocean. Sci. Rep. Whales Res. Inst., 33: 1-26.
PATERSON, R.A., 1984. Spondylitis deformans in a Bryde's whale (Balaenoptera edeni Anderson) stranded on
the southern coast of Queensland. jnl. Wild. Dis., 20(3): 250-252.
PATERSON, R., 1986. Shark prevention measures working well. Aust. Fish., 45(3): 12-18.
PATERSON, R., 1987. Recovery in the east Australian humpback whale stock. Aust. Fish., 46(8): 32-36.
PATERSON, R. and P. PATERSON, 1984. A study of the past and present status of humpback whales in east
Australian waters. Biol. Conserv., 29: 321-343.
WATSON, L., 1981. Sea guide to whales of the world. Hutchinson, London. 302 pp.

Sci. Rep. Whales Res. Inst.,
No. 39, 1988