Marine biologist Dr Vanessa Pirotta combines science and storytelling in her acclaimed new children’s book.

Dr Vanessa Pirotta’s beautifully illustrated children’s picture book The Voyage of Whale and Calf published by CSIRO, was recently listed as a 2023 Notable Book of the Year by the Children’s Book Council of Australia, earning the Eve Pownall Award.

On 22 August, during Book Week, Dr Pirotta will read her book to teachers, students, and the public in a live Zoom event hosted by the Australian National Maritime Museum.

“I’ve always wanted to document the annual whale migration for a wider audience, and writing my first children’s book was also a chance for me to create something that can be read each year,” says Dr Pirotta. “I want the reader to enjoy it as much as the listener.”

She drew on her own research to write The Voyage of Whale and Calf, which tells the story of a humpback whale and her calf as they undertake the long migration from the warm waters of Hervey Bay on Australia’s northern coast to the icy waters of Antarctica. Along the way they face dangers such as balloons, fishing nets and orcas – and encounter helpful marine allies.

“The timing worked out well, as the book was published between the arrival of my own two calves,” she says, explaining that her oldest son was just over one when the book was first published, and her second son was born about six months later.

“Part of writing the book was about paying homage to the humpback whale mother as the ultimate taskmaster, and since having my own children, my respect for the humpback whale mother has really ramped up,” she says.

“They make this incredible journey while pregnant, from the feeding grounds in Antarctica, running on stored energy before they give birth in Australia’s warm northern waters,” she says.

“A female humpback swims through this long migration twice each year, breeding, giving birth and nursing their calves while vigilantly avoiding predators like killer whales, human threats like fishing gear entanglement or ship strike. Their strength is awe-inspiring.”

Dr Pirotta’s PhD in marine biology at Macquarie explored whale conservation and used specialised drones to capture blowhole spray for analysis. She also worked on reducing impacts on whales from shipping and worked with citizen scientists to learn more about whales in Australian waters. She founded the Wild Sydney Harbour citizen science program, which continues to gather data for Macquarie’s Marine Predator Research Group.

Dr Pirotta is also collaborating with Gamay Rangers to learn about whales, dolphins and fur seals in the Sydney area to merge First Nations knowledge with science.

Outreach is a huge part of Dr Pirotta’s work. She will be in Tasmania during Science Week to host a virtual tour of the CSIRO’s blue-water research vessel, RV Investigator.

She has also engaged with the school Skype-A-Scientist program, delivered a TedX talk on using drones to collect ‘whale snot’, and is now an Antarctic Science Foundation Ambassador.

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Join Vanessa for her live reading of The Voyage of Whale and Calf  on 22 August, 2pm – 2.30pm.

Register here.