Deirdre and I (plus pooches) are currently doing a "lap". We are enjoying it immensly - and are currently in Albany (WA) where we are about to turn east, for the run back home to Melbourne.

Today we did something new to both of us - we went whale watching on a locally operated catamaran and were completely blown away by the experience!

Four humpback whales "adopted" the catamaran as a member of the pod, and provided a magnificent display for around an hour, as they went about their business about 100 metres off our bow and side.

Just when you think you have seen it all, an experience like this comes along and fires up the spirit and enthusiasm for all that is great about this country of ours. If you havn't tried it you are really missing out on something special!

Cheers
Lazo

AWESOME Lazo !!

Did you manage to take any photos/video during the excitement?

We are hoping to be down in Albany during our WA leg of this trip, but we are holding up a bit in the
Geraldton area until the weather warms up a bit down there.

They truly are majestic. We are in Exmouth at present and yesterday out on the water in our 3.75m tinny, a pod of about 6-7 whales slowly swam past us not 40m away. It was absolutely awesome.

G'Day Dave,

Try this one :



-- Edited by Lazo on Thursday 13th of August 2009 11:54:47 PM

hi lazo.          those whitecaps look a bit rough out there.      i took my wife margaret up to harvey bay last year,and we did a whale watching cruise.     makes you feel a bit humble when  they come right up to the boat to have a look.

G'Day All, Like many GOFs I wondered what the big deal was - now I know - bloody awesome! The guy that took us out says that the secret is that once a whale is spotted, to let it approach you. I can well imagine what it would be like in a tinny - here's this thing weighing around 40 tons and as long as a 4 story building, and it's decided it likes you (thank god). Sort of puts you back in place in the pecking order! Cheers Lazo

sometime ago a humpback whale got inside horse shoe reef here at Port Noarlunga and spent about an hour swimming around. It drew hundreds of people down to watch him. It was quite spectacular

-- Edited by Gary and Kerry on Friday 14th of August 2009 12:21:24 PM

I had the Humpback experience in Exmouth in 07. Being greeted eye to eye by a 40tonne animal is very humbling. Besides, any animal which can launch itself out of the water with its tail has to be respected from many angles, and is a good tail to stay away from. I also experienced Southern Rights in Port Lincoln on their way to and from the Bight. Very humbling indeed. Enjoy. Cheers Chris

Amazing experience Lazo, I have only seen them from the coastline, will put it on my "things to try" list for my next trip. Vic

we get them coming up the gulf every year, they frolic off the port germein jetty, when they deem to reward us with a visit it is standing room only, they come right up close to the jetty and stare at us with their little beady eyes, makes me wonder what they are thinking

Dave do you see humpbacks or southern rights up there? A humpback once get caught in a tuna farm at Pt Lincoln in '96. It was a rare occurrance. Southern Rights are more common in Boston Bay on their way up to the Bight and on their way back to the Antarctic. I'm curious about the whales. They are magnificent, majestic creatures with the most peaceful disposition. Chris

I've only seen them a couple of times granny, word spreads pretty quick but they only hang around for a day or two, I'm not an expert on whale species but I think they are the same ones that cruise along the bight, southern wrights???????????

they look the same to me anyway, the port germein jetty is or was, as you know, the longest in the southern hemisphere, we had a mother and a calf pull in last year, the whole jetty (almost half a mile long) was packed, she came right in as far as she could go without stranding and just "played" she and her calf stayed for 3 days, there were people in the water but at no point were they or the whales in danger

there were a few boats out as well, she would go up to them, law requires a certain distance to be kept up, but as the boat would pull away she would just keep up, she was encouraging interaction betwen the boats/people and herself and calf

we had a whale with a lump of rope attached to her/his back here a few years ago, one of our prawn trawlers were coming in when they noticed her/him, they were able to pull up alongside and take the rope off of this whale estimated to be in excess of 40 feet long and forty odd ton,

they say it even rolled a little for them, they swear it knew what they were doing and not only allowed them to do it but actually helped them to do it, big burly prawn men will still tell the tale today if prompted in the pub

I dont understand how people could harpoon and waste these fantastic animals, if they tried it any where near here there would be blood on the water and it wouldnt be whale or dolphin, very strong fishing contingent here and they love their marine mammals

we have very freindly dolphins here as well, they will stay with us out fishing, we give them s.h.itties and I swear they drive fish in to us, happened to me a few times, also had a few fellers state that a dolphin brought a fish up to him and tried to hand it to him, would not surprise me in the least

strange thing to stare into a dolphins eye from a dinghy at less than 2 feet away, I  have done it many times,  must be awesome to swim with them, in the wild of course not where they are trained in a pool

as i have said before I just wonder what they think when they look at us

I did a little bit of research and yes they are southern wright whales that visit us, I found an A.B.C. site that has a small story on the mother and calf that visited Port germein it can be found here ..... http://blogs.abc.net.au/sa/2008/09/whales-visit-po.html#more............as well as a couple of pictures

-- Edited by dave06 on Saturday 15th of August 2009 01:39:07 PM

Yes it's a good sign for the gulf. Just magic off the Germein Jetty. They used to come right into the Lincoln jetty. I suppose they still do, but I haven't been there for whale season since '96. We think the pregnant mothers came into the bay for a rest before going up into the Bight to give berth. They would also call in on the way south. We used to think they came in to show us their babies. What ever it was, we always felt very honoured. They used to just loll around in the bay for a few days, coming in very close to shore around the old power station, around the grain wharf, and around Kirton Point into Proper Bay. Apparently they're not feeding at this time. When they headed out through the southern entrance they would launch themselves out of the water with a huge breach and a tail slap, and away they'd go. Just magnificent! Dolphins are a constant in the bay, even "teaching" the young to fish and play. Boo Hoo to the Japanese dolphin and whale hunters! Boooooooo .............. Cheers Chris