We are greeted by calm weather, not what was forecast, so we take advantage of the fact that the weather patten has slowed down and head out with word from Bernie that a quiet whale has been seen half way between the safe water marker and Seal Rock. We slow down well before we get to the area and chat to Bernie over the two way radio. He hasn't seen the whale for a while and i have not seen any thing, We spot whales in several ways. The blow can be seen from some distance when you know what to look for, some times on the boat a whale can be close to the horizon and we see the blow. Now its not caused from water that's inside a whales lung, as they are mammals and if they had water in their lungs they would drown, just like us. It is caused when their warm breath hits the atmosphere, from any water that's around the blow hole being atomized and mucous that is inside the whales lungs. Some whales have a lung capacity of a small car and it seams to take a very short time for a whale to take a breath. We are told that a whale will take "cat naps" of about 20 minutes and shut down half of their brain so they know when water is covering their blow hole.
We also spot whales by a calm patch of water called the whales foot print. caused by the tali even with out the whale breaking the surface of the water. Of course when they start waving at us or breaching that makes them a little easier to see if you are looking in the right direction.
Well we could not find this lone whale so headed towards "the line". (An area between Bald Head and Breaksea Island.) As we get close to Limestone Head Bernie tells me the whale just breached behind us.
So we turn and go the the area and still no luck. We turn and head continue on our previous course. We don't see any blows so continue east until close to Breaksea Island and with strengthening north west winds I decide to travel the south side of the Island and hope to find some whales on the north eastern side of the island. You have to be kidding "no whales there" so we travel between the islands and as we get to the western end of Breaksea I see that the other whale watching boat has taken his sail down so must have a whale close by. We head over to have a look and even when I get close to the area I know that the whales is I can't see it, it is so quiet, just taking 1 breath and then traveling under the surface. Eve my deckie spots this whale eventually and our passengers get to see a young quiet humpback for the first time today. We follow him for some time getting just glimpses as he takes a breath and then vanishes again. As we get out to Bald Head we see whales further south so we go to see if we can get a better look at these pair. Not today folks they also take 2 breaths and vanish. More further south. Oh a breach, lets go to these ones, no sorry they also vanish. Well folks it seams that all the whales are camera shy today. It reminds me of a Van Morrison song "Day Like This" One of the hardest days whale watching I've had for a long time.
"Think Whales Think Albany"
Master of the vessel, Paul Guest
We also spot whales by a calm patch of water called the whales foot print. caused by the tali even with out the whale breaking the surface of the water. Of course when they start waving at us or breaching that makes them a little easier to see if you are looking in the right direction.
Well we could not find this lone whale so headed towards "the line". (An area between Bald Head and Breaksea Island.) As we get close to Limestone Head Bernie tells me the whale just breached behind us.
So we turn and go the the area and still no luck. We turn and head continue on our previous course. We don't see any blows so continue east until close to Breaksea Island and with strengthening north west winds I decide to travel the south side of the Island and hope to find some whales on the north eastern side of the island. You have to be kidding "no whales there" so we travel between the islands and as we get to the western end of Breaksea I see that the other whale watching boat has taken his sail down so must have a whale close by. We head over to have a look and even when I get close to the area I know that the whales is I can't see it, it is so quiet, just taking 1 breath and then traveling under the surface. Eve my deckie spots this whale eventually and our passengers get to see a young quiet humpback for the first time today. We follow him for some time getting just glimpses as he takes a breath and then vanishes again. As we get out to Bald Head we see whales further south so we go to see if we can get a better look at these pair. Not today folks they also take 2 breaths and vanish. More further south. Oh a breach, lets go to these ones, no sorry they also vanish. Well folks it seams that all the whales are camera shy today. It reminds me of a Van Morrison song "Day Like This" One of the hardest days whale watching I've had for a long time.
"Think Whales Think Albany"
Master of the vessel, Paul Guest
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