This Aboriginal engraving site was uncovered during renovations at the Coal Loader development, a Sydney industrial site at Balls Head (in Waverton). Part of the site have been destroyed, but a large whale with a man inside it remains and is protected by a fence.


The whale and man and engraving were thought to represent either a magician performing magic to entice whales to become stranded – or a man who has entered the body of a stranded whale to cure an illness.

A second “man-like figure” was recorded inside the whale in 1963. A new article in 2008 suggested that this second figure inside the whale appeared to be a dog or a horse: if correct, this would indicate the local Cammeraygal people were still carving at the site after the arrival of white settlers in 1788.
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Dr. Nikolas Sellheim’s Book Review: Rebecca Giggs’ “Fathoms. The World in the Whale.” – IWMC – World Conservation Trust · December 7, 2021 at 2:33 am
[…] Illustration of the Balls Head Whales, taken from https://hikingtheworld.blog/engravings/balls-head-waverton/ […]