City In Giant Flap Over Latest Adoptee

Newcastle Herald

Friday June 13, 2008

By TESS CAMPBELL

TODAY'S baptism of Newcastle's adopted humpback will kick off the city's national whale day celebrations a day early.

Wittilliko, named after an Aboriginal word for singing, will be officially monikered by Lord Mayor John Tate in an 11am ceremony at Dixon Park Surf Club.

Cr John Tate said seeing whales up close was special.

Newcastle joins 59 other coastal councils in adopting a whale under the Humpback Icon project.

Tomorrow's inaugural national awareness day, an initiative of the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), reminded people to both celebrate and protect the giants of the sea, spokeswoman Rachel Kathriner said.

Wittilliko would be identifiable because of distinctive fluke, or tail, markings, she said.

Novocastrians were encouraged to keep an eye out for Wittilliko on its northward migration to warmer waters to breed.

The humpbacks that pass Newcastle from about May until September each year, face growing threats from whaling, ship strikes, marine debris, ocean noise and the effects of climate change.

© 2008 Newcastle Herald

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