What A Differance A Day Makes

After yesterday's sightings we are all keen to go and see what we can find.

Bernie has come down to the marina to tell us that he has seen several blows north of Michaelmas Island out in the area of Casey's Beach. As we leave Princess Royal Harbour the North Easterly is picking up but because of information from Bernie it does not worry me as we will be sheltered off Casey Beach. Travelling this way if the whales are not on the northern side of the sound the wind will be behind us as we travel through the rest of the sound.

We enjoy a coffee as we make our way towards Gull Rock and then travel along the coast keeping an eye out for the tell tail blows of the humpbacks as they migrate north.

We get to Casey Beach with no sightings. We know the route that the whales are taking as the come from Antarctica and head north. Hitting the coast east of Albany and heading west, some times entering King George Sound other times just skirting the edge.

So now we are heading towards Michaelmas Island and I am trying to keep the spray from reaching me on the fly-bridge, its not rough but cutting across the seas and the wind is picking up the spray.

We are now heading towards Bald Head with the wind behind us, I hope we find a whale soon. Now we have many white caps covering the sound and finding whales is getting harder. Then I see a faint blow over east of Seal Island. We make our way towards where I have seen the blow and now every body is looking out.

The whale is a juvenile humpback and is very quiet. We stay with it for a little while, but we are having trouble working out where it will next surface. It is a little choppy so I make the decision to head back towards Michaelmas Island and see if we can find any thing out there.

We have no luck so on out cruise home I offer all of my passengers a free return ticket to try again.

Beautiful Weather

We get to the boat and what a beautiful day. I have come via Marine Drive and seen blows in King George Sound. We head out and the first whale we find is east of Seal Rock. It is a young whale and it is surrounded by dolphins.

It does not seam to be moving too far so we turn off the engines. At one point the whale is just metres from us and then turns and starts swimming towards Limestone Head, we look up to see blows about 800 metres away so we head in that direction.

We find 3 Adult Humpbacks and their seams to be a bit going on here. Before we get there we see the whales are now heading towards us we stop and turn with them as they pass by. The 3 adults bash in to each other as they pass and then we see 1 more adult cruising in to join them. We follow for a while then see breaching whales out deeper.

We all want to get closer but how long will the breaching continue? Now the whales deep are slapping their tails on the surface. We have to go and see what is going on. We are far enough away so we can increase the revs and are now doing about 18 knots in an easterly direction. About 400 metres away from the whales as we decrease revs and the tail slapping stop.

The whales are now cruising towards Bald Head. As they do rolling over and at times their petrel fin breaking the surface. Its 2 small humpbacks and we follow hoping for another breach close by. Its time to head home but I see a blow over towards Gull Rock. We decide its only diesel so we head over to investigate. The phone rings and its the local ABC radio station asking what's happening with the whales. I drop the revs back and the first whale we saw this morning is cruising past.

We start off again but we see the large blow only one more time and can find no trace at a whale in the Gull Rock area. Its a great day with no wind and very few clouds. Our passengers are all very happy, mother nature has helped me do a great job today.

Which Way Are You Going Now?

After a 60th birthday celebration Eve arrived early to take down all the decorations before today's passengers board the boat. The weather is calm but as we make our way across the sound it seems that the SSE winds have arrived early and we get a very light drizzle. We head to Limestone Head and with no sightings turn to Breaksea Island. We round the north eastern end of the island and then head back towards Bald Head. Misty rain is making it hard, but out of the corner of my eye I spot a couple of blows. We turn and head further south catching up with 2 Humpbacks as the head towards Bald Head. We follow and now whales seem to be appearing every where, several large splashes even further south tell us that whales are now breaching. Some times when you spot a whale breach you can be tempted to head straight to it, but some times a whale will only breach once and then stop. We choose a whale that is standing on its head and waving it tail to attract our attention. As we get to with in 250 metres the whales dive and are next seen heading east. Come on guys that's the wrong way!!!! We follow and now they are heading west. Out next sighting is as they lift their tails and take a dive so we head back towards the marina.

The Memory Bank.

After having a couple of days when we only had a couple of people who wished to cruise, not enough passengers to leave the jetty.  Heading out with clear skies but knowing that the winds would soon strengthen and hoping we could find some whales before the weather arrives. We head towards Bald Head and then over towards Breaksea Island. The wind is starting to get stronger and I don't wish to head too far out unless I am sure of finding some whales. We enjoy some morning tea as we cruise on the northern side of the island. Then after spending some time watching New Zealand Fur Seals at the eastern end of Breaksea Island. We spot a couple of blows. Making our way towards the blows we thing we have 3 humpbacks. Now we can just find 1 young whale cruising al alone. As we travel with it then we spot the other whales. Their are 3 more whales ( 2 adults and 1 juvenile)  about 400 metres away from the lone juvenile. We are now between the 2 pods and as we travel along I think that we have a new born calf with the adults.  As we follow for some time the young whale off to our left suddenly breaches about 50 metres away from us. Too quickly for any one to catch on film but those on the fly-bridge with me are all very pleased that we had seen it. The talk was then about some times just filing these things in the memory bank and not being to worried that we did not capture on film. We stick with the whales for some time and then head back towards town in time for lunch.

Whale reported to CALM

With clouds being pushed around with a North Easterly breeze we head towards Limestone Head. I had seen several blows out deep on the Humpback Highway (a line between Bald Head and Breaksea Island) Slowing the motors down a little I spot a blow about 1 km east of us, at the same time as some of our passengers. We continue slowly and then we spot a soft blow astern. As we get closer to this very quiet whale we see that it is very small and it dose not look very healthy. The whale had red marks on its back and on its tail. At one point I thought I saw some thing trailing from the whales tail but we could not get close enough to get a better look. Discussion with passengers and it seems that I was not the only one to think there is some thing trailing from this whale. As I scan the rest of King George Sound I spot several blows towards Michaelmas Island. As we leave the sick whale I contact the local authorities CALM and although I cant speak to a officer I leave a message detailing the area the whale is in and the condition that this whale is in. We get to the island to find 3 young humpbacks and shortly after we knock the motors out of gear the pod changes direction and swims over to us. At times just metres off the stern the whales seem to be diving and then surfacing 20 metres from where they lifted their tail to start their dive. We stay with them for some time and as they head towards Limestone Head we head back towards the marina.

First whales for cruise season.

Well it was a little overcast, but we have very light winds. The round the streets car race in Albany is playing havoc with people trying to get around the road detours. We leave the marina a little late so step up the pace a little. Heading out towards Limestone Head I spot a faint blow, reducing revs as I am not sure which way the whales are travelling. They are quiet so we knock the motors out of gear and then Eve spots a blow back towards town. We idle back to where the whales were last seen and I hear a blow behind us. Looking off the stern the whales are swimming towards us. Once again I take the engines out of gear and we drift as the whales swim up close to the joy of some of our Indian passengers. The whales are quiet and they swim around us and then off toward the headland. We follow them until they head around Bald Head. We head in toward some New Zealand Fur Seals and then cruise along the coast towards home. Even being overcast passengers comment on the beautiful colours of the water, we do live in a pretty place.

A Little Hit & Miss.

With great anticipation we leave the marina this morning.  Cruising out of Princess Royal Harbour I take my position up on the fly-bridge a great place to keep a good look out for any evidence of a whale. We had just 6 people join us on our first whale -watching cruise for this season. We head towards Mistaken Island and cruise through the passage. Then head through Frenchman Bay and towards Limestone Head. No sightings so we continue towards Breaksea Island. Cruising slowly along the northern side of the island we enjoy a spot of morning tea :) Spending some time watching the lazy New Zealand Fur Seals and then over towards Nanarup Beach. Still no sightings so we head through the centre of King George Sound towards the marina. We did not see any whales today but we did cover a lot of ground in search of them. On our way home I said to the passengers that they were welcome to join us again at any time this season. With genuine surprise they were very happy that we would make such an offer. But as I said we want to show our clients a whale and our job is not done until we have.