A whale of a plunge-Sth-East Aust coast whale watching.

Not about digital education, but it's holidays and there's nothing to stop me finding some little link between the plunging in deep and digital education, is there...?

Today I spent 3-4 hours watching the whales -  moving north up the East coast (See map) of Australia, there's some interesting information about humpbacks on this website from Puerto Vallarta.


Liquidgetaway provided the backdrop to my digital film play today. We saw a lone small male humpback today and followed his elusive activity until we decided on a further spot. The boat driver, Brett drove the dinghi (which seats about 12) around his usual spots over a large expanse of water off Mooloolaba, Sunshine coast, Qld. Then we followed another two whales, possibly a female and a male, around. They didn't seem to travel in any direction and it was random when they surfaced again-blowing a plume of water, and waving pectorals, showing it's rounded back and tail, leaving a 'footprint' of flat water where it has left a huge gush of pushed flat water. 


I had the digital movie camera at the ready and took a fair bit of sea and sky and waves. Viewing it reminds me of the scenery for many boat people, but our boat was slightly different to our new arrivals' ones they have had to pay for with their lives/livelihood. Finally when it was time to leave, the two whales came out and my camera was off, in fact it failed to record anymore. My iphone camera I was also using to txt to my daughter, was not ready and so I was a digital failure.
Why is it that at times of what I supposed was extreme need to film the equipment was not ready, or at least I wasn't. I can name a number of these times, like when old Mitjina, an elder, was showing me her sacred aboriginal outstation in the Petermanns, calling out to the spirits - "Hey, we are arriving now, yoohoo"- total shut down of my recording equipment (an 'old variety' SLR with FILM, and a recording player of some sort, spare batteries ran out),  including the ink in my pen, as I trying to record the words in Pitjantjatjara on paper. It's almost like the Gods are controlling my need to be looking through a digital lens and instead to be relying on my own eyes! Fascinating and well worth the experience. Images and recollections through the minds' eye!


I'm still rocking on the boat tonight!


Migaloo - the hypo-pigmented" humpback

Migaloo the white whale.

White whale in aboriginal language (which language??) Ooh this makes me mad. If there is anything cultural about this name is that it was probably given by some ignorant and uncultured white fella who didn't know better than to say "in the aboriginal language".
There's lots of names for 'whitefella' and some of them not so nice. But the ones I have heard are 'Balanda' (after dutch influence, 'hollander'), 'Wailypala' which is the Pitjantjatjara pronunciation for 'white fellow', then there is the apakatji, derived from the word 'half caste' but possibly this is derogatory now -but was still used in the 1980's in the centre (CA), and if you can think of any other reputable names pls leave a msg in the comments.
I would like to think that 'Migaloo' is a term used by eastern aboriginal Australians to identify people with white skin.

http://www.aboriginalartcentre.com.au/aboriginal%20australia.html