We leave the marina with blue skies but with a shower in the distance. Bernie tells us that there is a whale close to the safe water marker. I spot blows as we get to the area.
The 2 adult humpbacks are heading towards the mussel lease at Mistaken Island but they change direction and we have overshot them. Now they are heading towards Middleton Beach. Its calm and the shower has cleared, its not hard to follow the whales as their foot prints are easy to see.
The whales foot print is a calm patch of water caused by the tail as
the whale moves through the water. We are often asked if its oil but the
best way to describe it is a bubble of water coming to the surface.
Amazing how long it may last on the surface even in a choppy sea. Well
the whales are just cruising this way then that way with no real
direction. And not going to fast at all. We have been joined by the
other whale watching vessel but they only stay for a short time.
Rain showers cover the islands and outer sound and we were out there yesterday and conditions were not that nice, lets just enjoy morning tea and stick with these whales for a while.
Lesley Webb and her children who were with us yesterday and told me I have a great job, is all smiles and glad they decided to take up the offer of a return trip.
The whales are now slowly heading east. About 200 metres east of them some one spots bottle-nose dolphins heading towards the whales. When the dolphins reach the whales passing either side of them, the whales turn around in their own length and chase the dolphins. The whales have woken up and are now chasing the dolphins around. We see huge splashes as the whales change directions, tails brake the surface, heads pop from the sea surface as if they are trying to see which way the dolphins have gone. This continues for some time and we are privileged to be able to watch.
We could have left after a short look and tried to find more whales, we may have even found some. But with conditions out side King George Sound rougher even on a calm day and knowing it was not very nice out there yesterday I decided "a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush" And some times you just have to be patient.
We left the whales after enjoying their company and antics for over 90 minutes as a shower of rain reaches us. We cruised past Whale World along Goode Beach, over the passage and Mistaken Island and back to the marina.
As every one disembarks its good to hear people are happy with some of the photos they have captured and Lesley tells me she will post some of the video when she gets back to Alice Springs in a week or so.
Happy some of the crew from yesterday could come again and get to have such an experience.
A Good Day at The Office.
Rain showers cover the islands and outer sound and we were out there yesterday and conditions were not that nice, lets just enjoy morning tea and stick with these whales for a while.
Lesley Webb and her children who were with us yesterday and told me I have a great job, is all smiles and glad they decided to take up the offer of a return trip.
The whales are now slowly heading east. About 200 metres east of them some one spots bottle-nose dolphins heading towards the whales. When the dolphins reach the whales passing either side of them, the whales turn around in their own length and chase the dolphins. The whales have woken up and are now chasing the dolphins around. We see huge splashes as the whales change directions, tails brake the surface, heads pop from the sea surface as if they are trying to see which way the dolphins have gone. This continues for some time and we are privileged to be able to watch.
We could have left after a short look and tried to find more whales, we may have even found some. But with conditions out side King George Sound rougher even on a calm day and knowing it was not very nice out there yesterday I decided "a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush" And some times you just have to be patient.
We left the whales after enjoying their company and antics for over 90 minutes as a shower of rain reaches us. We cruised past Whale World along Goode Beach, over the passage and Mistaken Island and back to the marina.
As every one disembarks its good to hear people are happy with some of the photos they have captured and Lesley tells me she will post some of the video when she gets back to Alice Springs in a week or so.
Happy some of the crew from yesterday could come again and get to have such an experience.
A Good Day at The Office.
No comments:
Post a Comment