The government asks its people to take count of themselves every few years as part of the census, but on the weekend there was a population count of a different kind taking place along the coast.
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The Organisation for the Rescue and Research of Cetaceans in Australia, perhaps better known as ORRCA, held its annual whale census on Sunday.
Keen whale watchers spent the day at headlands down the coastline, including several spots in the Hunter, counting and logging whale sightings.
King Edward Park, Swansea and Redhead Bluff were some of the local spots included in the count.
This was the 22nd annual whale census, which is held on the last weekend in June each year.
ORRCA vice president Jools Farrell said the purpose of the initiative is to gain an idea of the whale population and also learn more about their behaviour.
"It's part of our research side of ORRCA," Ms Farrell said.
"They're increasing by approximately 10 to 10 and a half per cent every year.
"And we want to know if any whales spotted in trouble or appear sick."
She said while the same whale might get counted "one or two times", the method was pretty accurate.
Ms Farrell said Sydney's lockdown the day before meant there was no count between the Central Coast and Wollongong, meaning this year's numbers could be on the low side.
So far the count is sitting at just over 2000, down from 2569 the year before, which was also down due to being held during a partial lockdown and on a day of terrible weather.
But Ms Farrell said numbers would still likely trickle in over the next two weeks or so, and expected the total could pass last years.
"We're hoping the numbers will be close and might go past last year," she said.
"There are a lot of whales travelling up the coast at the moment, and they appear to be travelling in quite close, which is very exciting.
"They normally travel further out for northern migration and hug close for southern migration because they have calves with them."
It's no surprise to Ms Farrell that the count day is well attended, given the popularity of the water-dwelling mammals.
"Most people love whales," she said.
"People are just in awe, they see whales breaching, tail slapping and just doing whale stuff. There's nothing more spectacular than seeing a whale breach. They're such majestic creatures."
A shipload of toilet paper
While we thought people may have learned from the first COVID-19 lockdown that coronavirus does not cause gastro like symptoms, toilet paper once again seems to be the item of choice with the resurgence of cases.
The Herald reported yesterday that shelves far and wide had been stripped bare again and loo roll limits introduced in the major shopping retailers to prevent panic buying.
While the behaviour has left many shaking their heads, or worse, the folks over at Out of the Square Media decided to poke a bit of fun while trying to calm people down and inform them that there is plenty of the product to share.
They posted a video to their Facebook page of a typical looking ship arriving into Newcastle Harbour, but this boat hadn't arrived empty.
Two gigantic toilet rolls appear on top of the vessel. The caption reads: "Don't Panic Newcastle, Australia, we've been here before. There's ship loads out there!!"
The Facebook post has been shared more than 1300 times.
That's what we call "taking the piss".
Sage Swinton
Sage Swinton is a news reporter who was born and bred in the Hunter. She has been with the Newcastle Herald since June 2020, and covers Newcastle council as well as other general news.
Sage Swinton is a news reporter who was born and bred in the Hunter. She has been with the Newcastle Herald since June 2020, and covers Newcastle council as well as other general news.
