Three fibreglass tails were installed along the Nelson Bay foreshore for Naturefest, but have proved so popular that d’Alboras Marinas and Destination Port Stephens now plan for the tails to stay until at least October.

More artistic, but realistic, replicas of humpback whale tails are planned in the near future, with the aim of establishing a one kilometre-long Whale Tail Trail from d’Albora Marinas along the Nelson Bay waterfront to Fly Point. 

The tails were designed and built by Atlantis Port Stephens, a business that aims to establish a marine museum in the area filled with life-size replicas of marine mammals.

Atlantis Port Stephens director Matt Johnstone said he was delighted the debut of the Whale Tail Trail had captured the imagination of so many people.

“The sculptures are designed to inspire and educate the public about the majesty of the humpbacks which grace the shores of Port Stephens every winter so we are heartened it has struck a chord and we hope the trail can expand into a bigger celebration of these majestic mammals,” Mr Johnstone said.

One tail is decorated in abstract art and the second, which also glows in the dark, in Aboriginal symbols while the third has chalkboard with coloured chalk on hand for the public to interact with the structure and colour in patterns of marine life covering the tail.

The chalkboard tail, in the d’Albora Marinas forecourt, is wiped each day for the next round of amateur, whale-loving artists.

Each tail also comes with one chapter about the life of a fictitious baby humpback called Harvey, with each story describing the whale’s first year of life.