Koolewong Trail Whale

Summary: A large weathered whale (over six metres in length) along the Koolewong Ridge Firetrail. It was first documented by W.D. Campbell.

This large whale on a rock platform near the Koolewong Ridge Firetrail was sketched by W.D. Campbell in 1899, but not described in the text. It was documented many years later by Fred McCarthy as a whale with “long, pointed head, two eyes, pair of pectoral and another dorsal fins, oval body curved with tail at an angle to the body as in diving, 5 bars across the body, bar across both pectoral fins and both tail fins, outline of body continued to form the bar on one of the pectoral fins, and the middle bar across the body terminates at the bar across the opposite pectoral fins, good tail. It has an unusual number of bars across the body and the tail is curved downward more than in other whale figures. An important decorated figure.“

AWAT0180 LR Koolewong Trail Whale

The whale is quite weathered, and while you can still make out most of the upper body, the tail is very hard to see.

AWAT0183 LR Koolewong Trail Whale
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