Whales Chasing Common Dolphins

Leaving Princess Royal Harbour we are told that whales have been seen over towards Limestone Head. We head in that direction and find them NE of Seal Rock. Two very quiet young humpbacks.

We stick with them for some time then see dolphins 500 metres away, we go over to them and when they are in our wake we head back to the whales. We watch them play for some time. Spy hopping and fluke slaps as they play / chase the dolphins

We head off to see what else we may find out towards Breaksea Island, after finding the seals on the northern shores, we head to the eastern end and head south. We cruise west along the southern side of  Breaksea Island with great visibility off to the south but to no avail. We cruise past a local small boat at the south western end of the island to see if they are having any luck.

Now head towards Bald Head cruising past the dredge as it empties and then continue to Limestone Head along the coast past Discovery Bay, Frenchman Bay, Goode Beach and over the passage at Mistaken Island and back to the marina.

Its not every day we see the whales with their mouth open.

Too Many To Count (Some passengers said)

Another great day weather wise today.

I drive around Marine Drive on my way to the boat this morning and find Bernie feeding the magpies. We spot several blows out deep.

We head out of the channel and while I'm chatting to Bernie on the radio Eve comes out to say she has seen a blow off the port side. We slow and I relay to Bernie what Eve has seen. Bernie says he thought he saw a disturbance but cant confirm a whale, but he has been looking deep most of the time. We continue towards Limestone Head. We chat about the young whale we have seen recently around Seal Rock, so we are keeping a look out.

Eve comes to the fly-bridge with my morning coffee (What happened to my muffin Eve) and I tell all of the passengers to enjoy morning tea before we find a whale. It has not been 5 minutes and passengers along side me spot a blow off in the distance.

We are about 800 metres off the head land and two whales are heading towards Bald Head. They are very quiet, taking 2 breaths and then diving for some time.
All of our passengers now know what to look for and now we are seeing whale blows popping up all over.  We head off to find some that may be more active. We go to the closest pair and they dive too.

BREACH is the cry and people are pointing towards the rocks. I saw the splash.
BREACH again but this time out deep. :)

We find another pair of whales, follow until they dive then turn and make our way east to find the next pod of whales that are heading toward the west. Three off to the starboard side but we are heading to three whales that are playing on the surface. They stop and now the 3 starboard side, are tail slapping.

BREACH in the sun. (I saw this one)

Blows north of us heading into King George Sound.
Blows out deep, blows east, blows south. Several passengers state that there are too many whales to count.

BREACH out deep. :)
BREACH. A whale has breached off to our starboard side. Now people are checking to see if they have captured it. :)
 
We head towards the 3 whales and follow them leaving them as they head around Bald Head. We go into the cove and find some New Zealand Fur Seals. Now heading East again to find some more whales. We have several pods heading our way, but some way off there is quite a disturbance on the surface. From the fly-bridge I can see whales rising out of the water some distance then falling back into the water and then continuing on there way.

We find 4 whales. As they travel west they are staying close to the surface, we can see their white bellies as they roll over under the surface.
They are crashing into each other and at times rising 1/3 out of the water then falling back in. Some times arching their backs and coming to a sudden stop, to then lift their tail and dive, just to break the surface with-in a few body lengths. They are cruising and the sound of the breaths is some thing to hear when they all break  the surface at once.

Motor drives are working over time until we leave these whales as they round Bald Head.

More whales are heading towards us from the east but its time to head back to the marina.

We spot a juvenile and slow the motors as we pass by. Then he slaps his tail on the surface and dives.
BREACH.  :)
The young whale has come clean out of the water, rolled over on its back and now crashes back to the surface to screams from our passengers who were lucky enough to see it.

Ok now we can head home via Whale-world and Goode Beach.

Whale Watching Luncheon

 Today we had the pleasure of Community Care for a whale watching luncheon. Leaving the jetty a little later than normally we headed out to Limestone Head. Found 3 whales and followed them until they headed around Bald Head. We headed towards Breaksea Island to check out some New Zealand Fur seals. Then headed towards Nanarup to enjoy lunch. As I scanned the horizon a huge splash could mean only one thing. I put it to our passengers that if we went to investigate, our lunch may be a little later than first planed. The vote came back in the affirmative to investigate and this is what greeted us.

I Love My Job !!!!

 What can I say. The weather is amazing the whales are friendly and I get to show people.

 I LOVE MY JOB

A calf playing today.

10 Humpbacks Suround Us !!

Bernie tells us that we have whales just past one of the ships at anchor in King George Sound. We head out to find 3 whales. we stay with these whales for some time and then see huge splashes some 800 metres away. Heading out I hope that these whales stay active but as we arrive they go quiet. Oh well this happens some times I think that throwing your self from the water when you weigh 45 tonne gets a little hard after a while. We give the whales time to rest but " No Bananas" We know that there are some whales in Frenchman Bay so we head over to get a count. We come across 3 more whales, follow them for a while and then cruise into Whale world to get a closer look. As we cruise past whale world the staff are all out on the veranda pointing towards Mistaken Island. We I get a call from Peter Bell who works at Whale World and he asks if I have seen the whales, so far the count is about 8. As we leave whale world it seams that Frenchman Bay is filling with whales. We head to each pod to confirm numbers. 2, 3 , 2, 3 and 2 over near the ship. Conditions are calm and we have a pod of whales heading towards us, I put the motors in neutral and with in a 200 metre radius of the boat we now have 10 whales, 2 pods come together and for a minute I think we are going to see some push and shove. One whale comes half out of the water and lands on another then we see a tail splash and one whale powers away. All goes quiet and the whales continue as before. During this commotion we have had 2 whales cruise up behind us and they are now going under us. We wait until the whales have all moved away and now its time for us to head home although a little latter than usual. But hey was it worth it.  

Some Days are Dimonds.

But not today :(
With Showers coming over the harbour we head out towards Limestone Head. Bernie says he has seen a whale there but it is very quiet. We spend time looking but if it dose not want to be seen then who are we to argue. We head out to Breaksea Island and as we are heading to the seal colony I spot several blows east of Michaelmas Island. But rather than head straight there we go and check on the seals. Thinking that the whales will be heading west so coming towards us. Problem is when we head towards where we saw the last blows we do not see any blows. We spend time cruising back and forth scanning all around. I know I was not mistaken and passengers who also saw the blows don't believe how a whale can disappear. We cruise over Herald Reef thinking that they might have slipped past us and headed into King George Sound inshore. As we decide that we will not see a whale today and start to head home Bernie calls on the two way and tells me that he has seen several blows heading to the east of Breaksea Island. Well we are not that far away so I turn the boat and head out. As we are getting close we see a whale smash its tail on the sea surface. Sea conditions are not that good where the whales are, we get a bit of a look but when the rain starts to set in and the whales head out to rougher seas its time to head home. The rain stays with us until we are just about to enter the marina.
My guests all tell me that some times you just have to accept that when dealing with nature you have to accept that every day is not going to be amazing, but I  want my guests to go away with great memories of their cruise so I offer a return cruise tomorrow and everyone accepts. With better weather forecast lets hope that the whales will play the game too.

4 Humpbacks & Beautifull Conditions.

What a beautiful day. Very little wind flat calm sea conditions and blue skies. We head out and to day is a day you just love to be on the water even if you don't see a whale. We get to Limestone Head and i have not spotted any blows yet so we turn and head towards Breaksea Island. It is not long before I spot several blows and when I am happy that what I am seeing is not caused by waves breaking on the shore of Michaelmas Island I tell those who are sitting with me on the fly bridge that we have some whales ahead. I point out what I have spotted and with in a short time every body has picked up the whales as they head in to King George Sound. I increase the revs and it is not long before we with in 500 metres of the whales and we have once again reduced revs to just above idle. How many whales have we found? It can be hard some times as they don't all take a breath at the same time. We follow these whales for longer than 1 hour, at times one of the whales lurches from the water and I think we are about to see some breaching but that dose not eventuate. The larger of the whales is making loud snorting sounds at times, is this aggressive or is it just clearing hits throat. We leave these whales as they get close to Bald Head. We head towards Frenchman Bay where we find some dolphins just to top of the day. We had some guests booked on the tour today and they did not turn up. I know that tomorrow the weather will not be so good I will be disappointed if they didn't make it because they slept in.

Breaching Whales

Bernie comes down to the boat just before we depart the marina to tell me that there are 2 whales close to a boat that is currently at "Gia Batter Reef" But he tells me that they are very quiet. We head out over a beautifully calm King George Sound to find the boat but can not find the whales. Bernie radios me and tells me that it looks like a couple of quiet whales are out close to Breaksea Island, we continue slowly out towards the seal colony on Breaksea Island, still not finding any whales. We head towards Limestone Head and as we get close and no doubt with the passengers now thinking we will not see any whales, I spot 2 very quiet whales heading towards us close to the coast. The call of "there she blows"  brings everybody to the bow or upstairs to see what I have found. I knock the boat out of gear so we can see which way the whales are travelling. The whales appear off to our port side so we turn to follow them. In my mind I am thinking that this is going to be a quiet day with just a few tail shots form these whales for our passengers to capture. Then they break loose, both whales burst from the surface and continue to breach for about 20 minutes. At times breaching very close to us. These whales were so close at times as they burst from the water you could see every marking on their bellies. It is about now I am wondering why I left my camera on the back seat of my car back at the marina. The whales are making their way towards Bald Head, and after a while they start to quieten down. At times laying on their side and slapping their pectoral fin on the sea surface. We follow them a little further and then head home. With the whales behind us every body is busy checking to see if they had captured the spectacular show we had all witnessed. There were some great shots. Message to self "don't leave camera in car again".

"Southern Rights off Middleton Beach"

We arrive at the boat and we have another great day. Bernie arrives to tell us that several whales have be spotted entering Frenchman Bay. We leave the marina and head towards Seal Rock. As we leave Princess Royal Harbour a call comes over the radio from a fisherman to inform us we are heading in the wrong direction as a Southern Right whale has been spotted off Griffith Street, Middleton Beach. I tell him that we have information on 4 humpback whales so we will come to the southern rights on our way home. We spot the whales off Goode Beach as we round the eastern end of Mistaken Island. The whales head towards Mistaken Island so we stop and wait for them to arrive. They don't care about us and head past us and in towards the mussel lease we turn and skirt the lease keeping an eye on 4 whales as they swim right through the middle of the lease. The whales then part and  rejoin each other again. Conditions are very calm so we turn off the motors and drop the hydrophone over the side to see if we can hear any whale songs. No luck today but can you beet a calm day, whales close, sunshine and a good coffee. Passengers are busy taking pictures and the whales playing mating games. We get a call from a mate on the beach and he informs me we have 2 more humpbacks heading towards us from Whale World. We spend about 1.5 hours with whales close and then with a breeze coming across the sound we head off to check out the southern rights. We find them not far from where they had been first reported. We watch them for a while and then head back to the dock.
"Master of the Vessel Silver Star II"
Paul Guest

"Things Calm Down"

As forecast the weather was better this morning. We head out towards Limestone Head and as we get close i see a week blow some distance off. Their is still a good south westerly swell running but at least we do not have an easterly sea on top of that. As we get towards Bald Head fortunately a passenger spots a blow behind us. "Their is a god" We have several young children on board and I really do not wish to head out side of King George Sound. We turn and head back to find s single whale which is heading towards Gull Rock. We tag along waiting for some good tail shots and then we get an unexpected surprise breach. We all saw it but no one got a picture. Then the whale went quiet again.The other whale watching vessel then arrived and stayed for just 10 minutes and then headed off. But knowing that no more whales had been sighted in the area we decided to stay with this whale. We enjoy a cup of Naked Bean coffee and wait for another breach that does not come. When we leave the whale we are close to Gull Rock and we have no wind, no swell, and plenty of sunshine. Its a good day to be alive. We leave the whale to cruise along the coast via Gull Rock and Middleton Beach.
"Master of the vessel Silver Star II"
Paul Guest

"Humpback Cow and Calf"

I get a text from Andrew Halsall who is doing the last section of a flight along the coast from Albany to Perth to count and photograph any Southern Right whales for John Banister and the Western Australian Museum. He tells us that we have 1 humpback whale south of the light on Breaksea Island at 0918 hours.

We head out towards Bald Head and as we get closer Bernie tells us he can see blows very close to the rocks. We then find the blows and a whale throwing it's self out of the water backwards so we head in that direction. As we get closer we see a calf traveling along side mum. We stick with these whales until they round Bald Head and then with a good swell still running we turn and head towards Breaksea Island to catch up with some new Zealand Fur Seals. Coming across a large pod of Common Dolphins who seam to have some place they want to be, can't see any schools of fish that they may be chasing so we leave them in their quest for what ever it is they are trying to catch. We catch up with the seals and then head back towards the marina via Cassey's beach and the coast of King George Sound.
"Master of the vessel Silver Star II"
Paul Guest

"Scotch Mist"

As we head out of Princess Royal Harbour, Bernie calls us up and tells us that 2 whales have been seen half way between Michaelmas Island and the Safe Water Marker. Its calm in King George Sound but I can see the white water on the south western end of Breaksea so I am pleased to learn of the whales position. We put the hammer down and over take our competitor as we leave the channel. We arrive at the whales after most people have enjoyed a coffee and are now ready with their camera poised. We find the 2 whales heading out and at times after they have taken a dive they surface close to the boat. We stay with these whales as they head over towards Bald Head. Now the scotch mist moves in and people comment that they are pleased we have a roof over our heads. We are getting close to the outer limits of King George Sound so we leave the whales and head over to Breaksea Island and check out some lazy New Zealand fur seals. We travel the length of Breaksea and then head over towards the northern side of  Michaelmas Island and then along the coast towards home. Hoping to find a quiet Southern Right whale laying close into the shore. No luck. When will we see the large numbers of Southern Rights like last year?
"Master of the Vessel Silver Star II"
Paul Guest

"Working Hard"

As we get closer to the end of the humpback migration sightings are getting a little harder. We left the marina today with word from Bernie that their are whales out on the line. We waste time and head straight out in that direction. As we make our way towards Bald Head we see that their is good swell hitting Breaksea Island. This could make things interesting. We get close to the line and Bernie tells us he can now see the whales that have come around the back of Breaksea Island. And just at that moment I see blows from the fly-bridge steering station. They are south east of us about 2 km away. Then we spot more blows south of us. but a little closer, so that's the pod we will approach first. We find 2 whales cruising to the west but they are a little hard to watch as we are now in the southern ocean and we have a 3 metre swell to contend with. We watch these whales for a little while as the head even further south west. Bernie tells us that the whales to our east are heading in towards King George Sound, we turn and find their blows quickly so head in that direction, hoping that they continue on that bearing. As we get closer all those on the fly-bridge see the whales blow several times but then disappear. We travel in the direction they were heading for some time. I do hate when whales do this. Bernie tells us that he was watching 2 whales between the islands and they have vanished also. But to get a bit of respite from the swell  I think we will head that way and see if they surface again in calmer waters. We don't find them but we do get to see several Australian and New Zealand seals that are hauled up on Breaksea Island. We round the eastern end of Michaelmas Island and then over to Frenchman Bay hoping that the whales have cruised in shore as a couple did the other day. No luck. All in all a pretty hard day.
"Master of the Vessel Silver Star II"
Paul Guest.

"Hard Day"

After a great viewing yesterday we leave the marina confident of a good day. How wrong could I be. We head south east from the channel towards Seal Rock, Bernie comes over the radio and tells me he has not seen any whales so far this morning. OH NO. Ever the optimistic I am sure we will find something on "The Humpback Highway" We travel from Bald Head around the eastern end of Breaksea Island, we have about a 2 metre south west swell with an .3 metre north west sea a little uncomfortable if we were to be stationary but we keep moving so no problems. We head to the seal colony on the north eastern end of Breaksea and then make our way north towards Nanarup with still no sightings. We arrive off Nanarup Beach and now have to change channels so we can stay in touch just in case he spots a whale entering King George Sound behind us. We travel along Nanarup hoping now to find a Southern Right Whale close to shore. We travel along the coast making our way back towards the Sound and as we get close to herald reef I spot a blow off in the distance. We make our way over and find 2 young humpback whales cruising west. Allah-lulu-a!! We have covered some miles today. We stay with these whales for some time and then head home. We will be about 45 minutes late, but hey we did find them in the end. As we get to the entrance of Princess Royal Harbour we see that the other whale watching vessel has just found the whales.
"Master of the vessel Silver Star II"
Paul Guest

"Whales for 1 Hour"

We leave the marina after Bernie has told us of several pods of humpbacks making their way along "The Humpback Highway" We get to the area about 35 minutes after leaving the marina and find several pods of whales heading west as they do. We spend some time with them and then because of the sea and swell we head back into King George Sound.  Bernie had told us that a couple of whales had traveled between the islands and were heading towards Seal Rock. But he had to head off him self to do a couple of jobs before we were able to re-enter the Sound and pick up their blows. We could not see them so I decided to head towards Frenchman Bay and Whale World, hoping that the whales would be found off Goode Beach. We caught up with a local fisherman and checked out his mornings catch of squid. Then we head off towards Goode Beach then we see blows close to the mussel lease at Mistaken Island. The whales are very quiet and as we get closer they head towards us. I reduce reeves, take the motors out of gear and then turn off the motors. The whales are swimming around us in no time. For about 1 hour they come and go at times swimming under the boat and then getting up to 200 metres away and then turning to return to the boat. Much to the delight of all on-board. Yes folks even the crew. Several passengers can not believe our luck, commenting that they never imagined they would get so close to the whales. We will be late home but no one cares. Eventually the whales head off and we start the motors and head home our self, traveling over the passage between Mistaken Island and the mainland. A good day.
"Master of the vessel Silver Star II"
Paul Guest.

"Injured Humpback Whale"

We head out from the marina with calmer weather than over the past few days. Bernie has visited us at the office and said that the only whales spotted were half way between Gull Rock and the Safe Water Marker. We head out hoping that we can find these whales in side King George Sound as the swell from the storms from several days ago, is still running out side of the sound. As we get close to the Safe Water Marker, Bernie tells us that the whale is close bye but very quiet. Then the whale surfaces. WOW what are those white markings covering most of its back. This whale is very quiet but we spend some time trying to get close enough to get a good photograph of these markings. "Oh no" We get a little closer and it looks like this whale has been attacked as their is a large amount of skin missing down this whales back. One of our passengers gets photos that under closer scrutiny we see that their are even huge holes in the whales tail. We call the local CALM office and report this whale. Peter Collins tells us that he will launch their boat with in 30 minutes and come to get a closer look. We leave this whale and head over to 2 humpback whales over towards Ledge Beach. We find them and passengers are encouraged to try and catch that picture of water dripping from the tail as the whale lifts its tail from the water and shows us the individual markings underneath. These whales are moving in no set pattern so staying with them at times is a little hard. We leave to cruise past Seal Rock, Whale World, Frenchman Bay, Good Beach and we stopped off to chat to a local squid fisherman to see what he had caught.
"Master of the vessel Paul Guest"

"Cow, Calf and Midwife

Bernie tells us that their is a quiet whale between Gull Rock and the end channel markers. We head out and it was not long before we spotted a very soft blow. We head over in that direction and as we get closer we soon notice a little calf sticking close to mum. We then see a second adult whale take a breath close bye. And mother and baby are cruising along calmly. This tells us that we have a cow calf and midwife. A cow traveling along with a cow and calf to aid the new mother. We do at times see a cow and calf being harassed by a couple of whales. On occasions like this we assume that the harassing whales are bulls, I do not know if the bull just wants to mate with the cow or has intentions to harm the calf, as a male polar bear would do to a cub, if he found it. We stay with these whales for some time at times the calf even swam within meters of the boat. Some of our passengers got some very close up shots but not me folks these are the best I got.

"A Curious Humpback Calf"

Today we have a beautiful day, no wind and blue sky. Leaving the marina I do enjoy "days like these"
Bernie calls as we head past the wharf to tell us that 2 humpbacks have been seen travelling in to King George Sound and have just cruised along Middleton beach and are now heading out past Ledge Beach. We step up the revs  hoping that these whales wont be to far from where they were last seen. We catch up with these 2 adult humpback whales as they head towards Limestone Head. We tag along enjoying morning tea trying to get a tail shot but these whales are a little lazy. The water is so clear though we can see them as they swimming just under the surface of the water. As we get closer to Limestone Head a blow is seen about 1km to our stern. I decide, because we are close, we will go and visit the new Zealand Fur Seals that hall up on the rocks in Bald Head Cove. As I go to move away from the whales they seam to follow us at times even swimming under us. After some time they leave us and we head out to the seal colony. As we head back along the coast towards King George Sound the whales we have been watching are heading towards us. We stop and the whales swim up to us and continue with out missing a breath.
We head into wards Seal Rock and stop off to chat to a local squid fisherman to check his days catch. Leaving Graham we spot the whale we saw off to our stern 30 minutes ago, as we make our way in that direction we even spot one of the Fairy Penguins from the Mistaken Island colony conditions are so calm. When we arrive it is not long before we see the blows of a new born Humpback calf. It is very small but very curious and even brings mom over to have a close look at us. We stay with mother and baby for a little while and then head home via the passage between Mistaken Island and the mainland slowing down to check out a seal as it lays on the surface apparently asleep till we wake him.

"Master of the vessel Silver Star 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.