Rare whales struck by boats surface hundreds of miles away, video shows

Weeks after being struck by boats off the coast of Australia, a pair of rare whales has now surfaced hundreds of miles away, apparently unscathed.

The animals — a mother-calf duo of southern right whales — were each hit by separate vessels in July.

The calf was accidentally run over by a small boat near Sydney in a collision that was captured by a drone, according to ABC News Australia. Following the crash, which threw the passengers off their feet, the young whale was seen diving into deeper water.

A few weeks earlier, the mother, known as Arrow, appeared to have been injured by a boat propeller.

But now, after the two harrowing incidents, the duo has been spotted swimming off Woolgoolga, located about 340 miles north of Sydney, according to an Aug. 24 Instagram post from wildlife photographer Sharyn Coffee and ORRCA, a conservation nonprofit.

“Late yesterday afternoon after just arriving at Woolgoolga, I stepped out of the car and spotted a Southern Right Whale about 400 metres from the headland,” Coffee said. “I put the drone up and was pleasantly surprised to see a mum and calf.”

“I was even more surprised to see that it was ‘Arrow’ and her calf,” she added. “They have travelled all the way from Sydney to our beautiful north coast and look to be doing very well.”

It is believed to be the first sighting of the pair since the collision near Sydney, according to 7News Coast, a local news outlet.

The species is “rarely seen this far north,” the outlet added.

Southern right whales — distinguished by their bulky, black bodies and lack of dorsal fins — are found throughout the southern hemisphere, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Every year, the marine mammals migrate from their summer feeding grounds to their winter breeding grounds, with some populations traveling back and forth between Antarctica and Australia.

The species — which was hunted extensively up until the 1960s — is considered endangered. In addition to vessel strikes, they face threats from entanglements with fishing gear, pollution and climate change, according to NOAA.

This story was originally published August 27, 2025 at 5:04 PM with the headline "Rare whales struck by boats surface hundreds of miles away, video shows."