whale sightings

As we headed out on our Coastal Wilderness-Whale Search cruise this morning we were joined briefly by a pod of common dolphins.  Making our way out past Boyd’s Tower on South head another pod of dolphins came to the bow of the boat for a short time.  Spotting some activity out on the horizon we headed in that direction and found two pods of Humpback whales, both heading south.

These pods were really just travelling along but we were very happy to have a couple of close passes by the boat as they zig zagged from our port to starboard sides.  We stayed with one of these pods for quite a while before leaving them to head back to Twofold Bay.  As we approached Mowarry Point we saw what we think may have been a Dwarf Minke whale, unfortunately I was not able to get a photo.  As we passed by Leather jacket we saw with another two Humpback whales with a second pod approx. 300m further out.  All whales seen today were heading south.

Humpback Whales, common dolphins, seals, albatross and Southern Right Whales were all seen on our cruise today.  We watched as one Humpback whale played with some seaweed and saw the dolphins and seals feeding.  We were also very lucky to see a Southern Right whale mother and calf enjoy the calm conditions.

As we rounded Boyd’s Tower on South Head we were joined by common dolphins, we then picked up a pod of 3 humpback whales around 3.5 mile out of Twofold Bay.  This pod was observe feeding and delighted all on board with some close passes by the boat.  We then saw another pod of 2 not too far from the first pod who we believe were also feeding.  Then we picked up a single humpback travelling north.  Another pod of common dolphins escorted us back into Twofold Bay.

On our way out of Twofold Bay this morning we were joined by a pod of Common Dolphins and it didn’t take long before we spotted a juvenile Humpback whale feeding.  We happily watched from a distance for approx. 30-45 mins and during this time this whale come over to the boat before going back to feeding.  We then headed north and we were again joined the common dolphins.

There is a fair bit of traffic on the Humpback Highway at the moment. We were out on a Twofold Bay cruise today and we came across two active humpback whales, although we weren’t on a whale search cruise we couldn’t resist taking a look.  Our reward was multiple breaches and head lunges, what a lovely way to start the weekend.