"Strong Winds But Worth The Trip"

Strong winds and rain cover the harbor we leave the marina. We have a few brave souls on board who where encouraged to cruise after yesterdays beautiful weather. We head out to Michaelmas Island after whales were sighted in the area. Passengers enjoy a hot coffee down stairs as I drive from the fly-bridge as it gives me better viability. After making our way between the islands we head over towards Nanarup Beach, I see what I believe is a blow some distance away and spend some time trying to find it again. I give up and continue towards Nanarup. We cruise the beach in calmer waters hoping to find a Southern Right whale, but no luck. The weather is abating and when we clear the head land so we can contact Bernie our spotter he tells us that whales are off the NW end of Breaksea Island. As I am talking to Bernie I see a huge splash that can only be a whale breaching. We head in that direction and more breaches as we approach. I loose the whales for a while and then see a breach out of the corner of my eye. The sea conditions are a little choppy so I have to tack as I make our way to the whales as they are now heading inshore on the northern side of the island. As we get close we count 6 to 8 whales. Following them as they turn and head towards Bald Head we follow for some time and then with all of our passengers happy we head for home. On the way home with wind strength increasing again, I even head down stairs to the warmth of the main cabin and get some of the children on-board to take the wheel to drive us back to the marina.
"Think Whales think Albany"
Master of the vessel Paul Guest.

"Whales Everywhere"

It is a glorious day, no wind, no clouds and a high of 20C forecast. I do love my job! Bernie comes to the boat and tells me that he thinks that there is a humpback cow and calf past the channel markers over towards Gull Rock. But there is also a large pod of humpbacks between Limestone Head and Seal Rock. We head out of the channel and Bernie from his lookout spot tells me that the whales now are east of the safe water marker. Naomi Bail from Whale world rings me to say she can see whale from work and they seam to be between Mistaken Island and Seal Rock. It took longer than I expected but we catch up with the pod as they charge towards Bald Head. I count a dozen whales as they break the surface to take a breath. We follow them around Bald Head and they start to play. Whales are lurching from the water and landing on whales that have just taken a breath. Several pods of whales come in to join the main pod and then leave again. Then we see the pod change direction and charge over towards a lone whale some 200 metres away. A lot of bumping is going on now and whales are throwing them self from the water tail first at times. We have great photo opportunities, thanks to digital cameras, even some breaches. We head home and as we round Bald head on the way home another whale is just ahead of us. I think we get to about 25 whales for the day.
We drop in to see the New Zealand Fur Seals for some more pictures. As we head home many people are checking to see if they are happy with their pictures.
"Think Whales think Albany"
Master of the vessel Paul Guest.

"And One Makes Four"

The first whale we find today is a small adolescent humpback by its self, traveling west on the southern side of Michaelmas Island. It is very quiet so we head east to see what else we can find. We find a adult humpback cruising slowly and we tag along, after about 5 minutes we notice a little tiny calf with mum. We follow for some time hoping to get some good pictures. They head around the eastern end of Breaksea Island and then towards Bald Head. I see several blows and we leave the cow and calf, but the whales I see are traveling quite fast and by the time we catch up with them they are close to Bald Head. We follow trying to work out how many whales we are with. We have several pods in the area and all up we get to about 20 humpback whales for the day.

"Think Whales Think Albany"

Master of the vessel Paul Guest.

 

"Two Humpbacks in King George Sound"

Calm weather greets us today and with school holidays with us we have about 50 people booked to cruise with us today. We head out and Bernie tells us that several whales have just rounded Bald Head and he tells us that the only other blows he has seen are well east of Michaelmas Island. We head out towards the islands about a 30 minute steam. In the time it takes to get with in 1 km of Breaksea Island we have all enjoyed a hot coffee, tea or Milo and the odd cream biscuit. Expecting to travel through between the islands I chat to Bernie and ask if he can still see the whales coming from the east of Michaelmas Island. He tells me that they seem to be heading around the eastern end of Breaksea. I look up from the radio and see a blow about 600 metres away. Excellent we don't have to go much further. I thought that these two whales were heading towards Bald Head, so head in that direction slowly. But alas no they next appear, about where we had been when I first saw them. So we turn and follow much to the joy of all the children on board. These whales continue west going further into King George Sound, and at times popping up along side the boat so close you could smell their breath.  We have been with the whales for 30-minutes and the other whale-watching vessel operating in Albany arrives. They join us for 10 minutes and then leave and continue out of the sound. We continue on in past Seal Rock and as we do the whales start to play, slapping their tails on the surface. At times we take the motors out of gear and the whales would stop and turn back towards us, swim around us and then continue on their way in shore. We have spent over 1.5 hours with the whales and by the time we leave them we are not far from Mistaken Island and they have just turned to head out to sea again. Some times it just takes patience and the whales will please all aboard.
"Think Whales Think Albany"
Master of the vessel Paul Guest

"Friends Help Out"

We are greeted this morning with a heavy fog and Bernie comes to tell me he can't help much as he cannot see past the channel markers. We know that whales will be seen out on the "Humpback Highway"
We call up sea rescue and log in, passenger numbers, estimated time of return and area of operation. After we have logged in we get calls from a mate who is out with his children over at Limestone Head and he tells me that 2 whales have just passed his boat, much to the delight of his daughter. Then we get another call from Jayden the young lad who did some work experience on "Silver Star II" last week, he tells me that several pods of whales are travelling along the highway. We find our first whales heading west just off Bald Head, as we watch them I see 2 more whales coming around Bald Head. The pods do not join each other. More whales further south and west, then we see a breach so we head in that direction. We find 3 whales, I tell our passengers that I believe that we are seeing 2 bulls chasing 1 cow, it explains some of the behaviour we are seeing. One whale at times breaks the surface and swims with its head on the back of another whale. They are also changing direction and at times turning back on them self. And then head south we follow for a while until I see another pair of whales further east that are heading into King George Sound. As we are engulfed with in a rain shower we head for home via Frenchman Bay, Goode Beach and the passage at Mistaken Island.
Thanks for the help we get from friends & other boaties, while looking for whales.
Master of the vessel Paul Guest

"Spy Hopping Humpbacks"

Calm conditions greet us this morning as we head out of Princess Royal Harbour. Word is that the whales are at Limestone Head. So we put the hammer down so we will be with them in 20 Minutes. We find 2 Humpback whales cruising slowly into Frenchman Bay. We stay with them for some time and then I think that we must be able to find other whales that will give our passengers a better look. We head SE and see several blows about 1 km away, as I am making my way to these whales out of the corner of my eye I see a huge splash. Can only be one thing out here folks, A breaching whale, We turn and run the motors at about 2500 rpm hoping that we can cover the distance separating us quickly. The whale breaches a couple of times as we are on route. We travel along side these whales for some time as the pull their tails from the water and dive into 50 metres of water. As we travel slowly along side the whales the other charter boat arrives in the area travelling across the path of the whales. They slow and appear at our stern rolling around and taking a dive again. The other vessel leaves and we continue slowly. At one point after about 10 minutes waiting for the whales to surface we take the motors out of gear, The whales then appear along side us and proceed to swim around us. Passengers run from side to side capturing the whales as they break the surface at times spy hopping, then disappearing for 5 minutes just to resurface along side us. More whales were further south but what's the point, they won't get any closer and other than a breach that you can capture (and show your friends) it dose not get any better. When the whales have had enough of us and then head east? We make our way to see some New Zealand Fur Seals, more pictures and now it is off home. We have told Sea Rescue that we will be back at 1230 hours so we cruise towards Whale-world We find a pod of Bottle nose dolphins but they are other wise occupied, so we continue on our way. Then we find a very young Humpback Whale playing in the Murray Rd aquaculture lease. We watch him for a while and then continue on our way. Calm conditions make for a good day.
 I do Love My Job!!
Master of the vessel Paul Guest.

"15 Humpback Whales for the Day"

We head out of the channel with word coming from Bernie that whales are close to Limestone Head. We head in that direction but by the time we get there the whales have headed around Bald Head. We follow although it is still a little choppy out there. The first whale we find is a small whale about 10 metres in length. This whale is taking 2 breaths and then diving so we look for another. Two blows 500 metres away so we go and take a look at these whales. Conditions are a bit ordinary and the whales don't want to play the game. We see another pod and they stay on the surface longer so we go take a look. We get a better look at these whales and travel with them for a little. Seeing two blows east of us I head in that direction as we are now getting some distance from Bald Head. Two whales cruise past us not even slowing down. I decided that we have had enough of the conditions with south easterly winds on the left over south westerly swell from the last cold front, so i tell the passengers that we will go back into King George Sound to see if we can find anything. We try to contact Bernie but I think he has headed home. I spot several blows over towards Breaksea Island. I count 5 blows so we go to have a look. We find 7 humpbacks now in 3 pods and all going in different directions, we pick the pair that are heading in towards Seal Rock and stay with them. With passengers getting great pictures of that amazing tail as the whale lifts it from the water in the motion of diving. We stick with this pair until we pass Seal Rock and then we leave them and head to travel through the passage between Mistaken Island and the mainland.
"Think Whales Think Albany"
Master of the vessel Paul Guest.

"Whales in Love"

Two whales today, just being whales in love. Folks it is mating season so we think when whales are seen in pairs it is probably a male (bull) and female (cow), and I think it is the cow in the front and the bull behind with his tongue hanging out, hey why should it be different for whales. Well we spent about 1 hour with a pair and then because they were pretty quiet we headed out to the eastern end of Michaelmas Island. We traveled out on the northern side of the island but we could not find any thing that looked like a whale. So while we were out there we decided to go and visit the new Zealand Fur Seal colony on Breaksea Island. Then headed back towards home still looking for more whales as we did.
"Think Whales Think Albany"
Master of the vessel Paul Guest.

Mother & Calf flee 2 Raging Bulls

With showers coming across the Sound we head out with word that several whales have been seen in the area around the safe water marker. We count 3 individual blows as we approach the area. The whales are charging all around with no direction at all. As we approach a wood chip vessel is making its way in to King George Sound on our starboard side and the whales are now charging towards us. The ship turns to starboard and now the whales travel across the path of the ship with in 100 metres of the bow. We turn and travel off the stern of the ship to pick up the whales again. One passenger says she thinks she has spotted a calf. After traveling with the whales for some time we notice that their seams to be one whale being pursued by the other 2 whales. Then there it is, a very small calf is spotted along side the whale that is being pursued. We follow these whales for some time and at times we have whales cruising around us. The cow and calf on one side of the boat and the 2 bulls lunging from the water. We stayed with these whales trying hard to get photos but sorry folks with showers coming over at times and whales charging all over I had my work cut out just to stay with the whales so that my passengers had some chance to get those elusive pictures. We spent over 1 hour with these whales and left them as they started to head out to sea from Limestone Head. We traveled the coast back to the marina enjoying some of our beautiful coast line and a hot cup of coffee.
So now we have seen 3 calve so far this season.
"Think Whales Think Albany"
Master of the vessel Paul Guest

"Whales in the Sound"

We have a coach company booked to cruise with us today and have been worried that the weather will not be suitable, but I wake at 0630 hours to calm winds so feel a little relieved. A heavy shower as I enjoy my morning coffee and I feel a little apprehensive again. I arrive at the boat to find Eve keen to head out and the rain clearing. Bernie arrives to tell me that 4 humpbacks have been spotted traveling towards Goode Beach slowly. This means that even if the winds pick up a little we will have smooth sailing. Great, I really don't want to have to leave King George Sound to find whales, their is a 5.5 metre swell running. The coach arrives and the passengers have already spotted the whales on there trip around Marine Drive on the way to our marina. We head out and Bernie tells me that the whales have changed direction and are now 300 metres north of the end starboard channel marker. A mate Steve Bingham also phones me from hes in-laws house to tell me he can see whales in a line from him and Mistaken Island.

I see blows as I talk with Steve, so head over to get closer. We find 3 humpbacks traveling with no destination in mind, at times even turning and swimming toward the boat to get with in 30 metres and then changing direction just as quickly. We stay with them for about 1 hour, when one whales splits and heads east, we have a squal go through and most passengers decide to enjoy some morning tea. We head south towards Limestone Head so we can travel around the coast and enjoy some of our great scenery on our way home

The last few days on the south coast have been a bit wild. Saturday a friend Andrew Halsall and I  traveled out to West Cape Howe to try and capture some of the weekend storm. Here is a pic I got, its a stitch of 6 pictures and a bit of work in Lightroom.

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"Think Whales Think Albany"
Master of the vessel Paul Guest

Why Would You Do It?

Heavy rain and hail this morning. I head down the boat just in case we get anybody wandering down to inquire about cruising, after all it is the weekend and some people may think that we would cruise in any weather. Also gives me a chance to check out the finished awning. No sorry still dose not keep the rain off the door. One group of about 7 people came down, booked on the other vessel working in Albany. I do wonder why any operator would take passengers out to see whales on such a day. Strong winds, hail storms and some distance to travel to find the whales. I thought it was supposed to a pleasurable experience. Heading home I did pick up the West Australian news paper to find a picture I sent them of a breaching humpback they had asked for a couple of days ago.

"Think Whales Think Albany"
Master of the vessel Paul Guest

"Stormy Days"

What follows 2 days of bad weather? Monday!! Problem being I think it might be 3 days of bad weather if the bureau of meteorology are correct. Strong winds from midnight so no rush to the boat today. I wander down to the boat to find builders erecting an awning over the door to our office. Must say I do wonder at the design of our offices, I am surprised that our offices were designed by a local architect. I would have thought he would have had a bit more of an idea about prevailing winds on the foreshore. Well it seams the same architect designed the awning and it dose not keep the rain out either. What a waste of money, I do wonder at who makes these stupid decisions.
Today is a good day to find a fire place and have a counter meal.
Master of the vessel Paul Guest.