MORE than 1000 residents and visitors gathered on Shoal Bay Beach on Sunday to form the outline of a 100 metre long humpback whale.
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In its fifth year organisers registered the event with Guinness World Records as the largest whale ever formed.
“It was just spectacular,” event spokesman Frank Future from Imagine Cruises said.
“We’re pretty confident its a world record. Bondi had close to 1000 when they protested Japanese whaling but it wasn’t registered with Guinness.”
About 800 people registered for the Shoal Bay event that had people running across the sand to complete the whale in time. Surveyor Mark McDougall pegged out the shape on what precious little beach was available after recent storms.
“We certainly had more than the 870 people last year and we’re going to count them today in the high resolution photo before we submit it,” Mr Future said.
The event marked the start of the winter school holidays and Port Stephens’ annual winter Naturefest. The HumanWhale event promotes whale conservation and whale-watching season.
More than 20,000 humpbacks are expected to trace the local coast this winter during their annual migration.
“The event this year was a big success with perfect weather and people, including lots of families, coming from everywhere to help form the shape of the whale on the beach,” Mr Future said.