Those who were there, can tell the full story  !

The rest of us are left to create the story, about what actually happened.

Be happy,  Virginia

Large Whale Back Scratch

Hi Jason and Crew,

My partner Laura and I were out with you guys on Saturday 21 August.

We initially won a trip to Hervey Bay staying at the Ramada and part of the prize was a whale watching trip. Evidently the trip that we were supposed to be one was booked out, so after trawling the net, asked if they could book us on Whalesong for both the morning and afternoon trips. Amazingly they said yes.

So here we were bright eyed and bushy tailed on Saturday morning, with no idea what to really expect.

After making our way out, and seeing a couple of whales nice and early, the day got better and better.

The morning trip was truly amazing, and the afternoon trip, while the whales were a lot less active than the ones in the morning, seeing them was a big enough kick in itself. But what really made the trip so amazing was the crew.

All the crew really were so friendly, helpful, informative and helped make what was a really amazing day.

We’ll be recommending Whalesong to everyone we know, and many that we don’t. I don’t know of whether you have an sort of relationship with the crowd at the Ramada, but we’ve just sent them an email thanking them for the weekend, and strongly recommending that they recommend you cruises.

Anyway, we best be off, we need an early night after an amazing weekend.

Thank you very very much.

Regards
Peter Bodetti and Laura Albrecht

August is the month of the sub-adults (teenage whales) in Hervey Bay. The younger whales who are not yet mating or caring for a calf head south first.

Hervey bay is an area of significant socialising for humpback whales on their migration back to their summer feeding grounds in the Antarctic.

These sub-adults are the equivalent of teenagers, young frisky and very curious. At any stage in our season we can experience close encounters but August in particular is famous for muggings.

A mugging is were the whales surround the boat eyeballing all the passengers. Humpback whales have awesome eyesight and really check you out, at times having us trapped for hours as they dive from side to side.

During the last week we have seen fantastic numbers of humpbacks as would be expected at this time of the year but also Dwarf Minkes and False killer whales.

We have seen false killers only 3 times in 15 years but they did hang around for three days this time.

Check out the dolphin shots they have been up to their usual tricks, simply awesome.

Jason.

3 False Killer WhalesWhale comes closeDolphins doing their tricksWhale Mugging

On Saturday the 12th mum woke me up and asked if I would work because a crew member couldn’t make it to work. I got to the boat and helped to prepare for the first cruise which leaves at 7.30am.

I then got to feed the fish which live in the harbour at the back of where our boat sits. Every one watched as the many fish came up and then we greeted people on board. I then went out the front while the Captain did the safety talk for the guests & I showed them how to put on a life Jacket.

On the way to the whales I helped to serve our finger food breakfast by taking it out on a tray & offering it to our guests. I did that and served drinks to the people until we got to the whales.

I lost track of time but it was approximately a 40 minutes. When we got to our first lot of whales there were five of them – a mum & calf, and three males. They gave us such a show it was so marvellous.

Head lunging, Tail slapping and getting up and close with us from all five whales it was magnificent. They mugged us for an hour (came within metres of the boat so the boat has to shut down its engines) and then two males left and the mum and calf and one male calmed down and the mother was showing its calf off to us rolling over and showing it belly, slapping the water with it pectoral fin and blowing from its blow whole, right in front of us, it was great.

We then started to head back and I served more food and drinks and collected cups and did washing up. We then saw another pod of two whales, then we got back and said farewell to the passengers. We then cleaned the boat up a bit wiping windows and vacuuming. We then fed the fish and got the same result as the morning.

We welcomed the people aboard. The Safety talk happened & then I helped serve the buffet lunch and drinks until we got to our first whales. We got a male that just wouldn’t stop breaching just over and over again giving people the perfect opportunity to take some photos of it. It was spectacular. We had him for ages and ages and then we had to start leaving to get back. Then on the way back we came across another pod that was also breaching & head lunging. We spent some time with them before we had to leave again.

I didn’t see them much because I was helping wash and dry after lunch, But I heard from the people on board that they were good. We then got back and everyone thanked us. We also thanked them for travelling with us & then we cleaned the boat.

Of late we have been spotting this weird creature whilst out Whale Watching. Any ideas? Leave us a comment below!

Pygmie or Dwarf Minke whales are probably more prevalent in the bay than we know as they are generally shy and elusive. Because of their diminutive size 2- 6 meters they are often mistaken for dolphins at first glance and then surface a long way away and go undetected.

This year we have seen a numerous “minkes” including my first mum and calf in the bay. Often we see them on and around the outer banks (large sand banks at the edge of the bay that are the start of the great sandy straits) were it is believed they are hunting bait fish.

Over the last week, we have been spoilt in the Great Sandy Straits / Hervey Bay Marine Park which lies between Fraser Island & the mainland.

There have been so many Humpback Whales that you almost don’t know where to look. At times there are over 30 pods of whales in the Bay area with a pod being anything from one to four whales.

With so many whales we have also been spoilt with a wide variety of activity from the whales. Breaching, Head Lunging, Pectoral Slapping & Tail Slapping has been viewed every day this week.

On Wednesday the 2^nd of September we visited over 8 pods of whales.

Most of these pods were sub adult (teenage) whales which are Typical Teenagers, travelling in groups of two or three, usually at the beginning of the season ahead of the adult whales.

They are also generally very playful, inquisitive & friendly with the boats & it is very common to get a mugging/really close encounter from these whales.

We are also getting regular close encounters from mothers & calves.

On Tuesday our skipper Jason stated that he had a very big mother come within metres of the boat with her calf.

She was being pursued by 6 large male whales. (nature at its finest)These males were vieing  for her attention.

This female was coming in close to the boat to use us as something to put between her & these boys, thus allowing her to properly care for her calf.

The male whales will often pursue a mother who may still have a young calf, but who has again come into a state where she can breed again.  In pursuing her they will often try to come between a mother & her calf. Separating her long enough to copulate.

The mother will then go back to calf.

A female whale has a gestation for  11 – 12 months & their migration up the East Coast of Australia is to travel to warm shallow waters of the Capricorn Islands where they give birth to their calves.

They can actually give birth anywhere on their migration along the East coast of Australia & we occasionally see new born calves in the Bay.

The average calf is born without blubber , is an overall light grey colour, will often have folds in their skin from where they have been in the confined space within their mother’s womb.

The more definite white & black/dark grey colouring develops within the first month of their life.

They are generally born from 2 to 4.5 metres long & weigh approx.  1.5 tonne.

All of the whales visiting The Great Sandy Straits /Hervey Bay Marine Park (also known as Platypus Bay) are having a bit of rest time in the sheltered waters of our natural Bay.

The mothers will take this time out to fatten the Babies/calves & put a layer of blubber on their bodies prior to returning to their colder summer feeding grounds in Antartica.

A calf can consume up to 600 litres of milk per day which they suckle from their mother, who is often in an upside down tail up out of the water position for feeding . This milk is approx. 35% fat & the consistency of yoghurt.  (humans milk is 5 to 7% fat)

A baby can put on 50 to 90 kg per day.

Also on Wednesday the 3^rd & Thursday the 4^th we had muggings or very close encounters with some mothers & calves.

As well as fattening the calves up in the Bay they are also teaching them actions they may need later in life.

On both days we had breaching & head lunging action from both the mothers & the calves.

On Wednesday the crew informed me that the calf was breaching with his mouth open which allowed all our guests on boar to get a good view of the whales baleen plates.

These bale4en plates are what they use to filter their normal  food krill through.

Occasionally the young calves will learn something new from their mother e.g. breaching, & like all kids  who learn something new, they often do it again & again & again.

We would just like to say thank you so much for such a wonderful, if not very choppy, experience watching the whales on Tuesday. You were kind enough to warn us of the water conditions which we really appreciated. As much as we knew the kids weren’t going to handle it too well we were still keen and it was worth it. Your staff were brilliant, especially Sabrina.

Our son William actually thought the whales were Sabrina’s whales and that ‘her’ meat pies made him feel sick! (not the swell of the water)

We will definitely recommend you guys to all our family and friends who come up your way. We hope your business has much success in the future.

Thanks again.

Kind Regards,
Andrea, Anthony, Marianne and William Finlay from Melbourne.