The last four months have flown by and we're sad to say that whale watching is officially at an end for 2009. With some absolutely incredible sightings and  more than a few photos, we hope next year's season is just as amazing. Here's hoping the whales have a peaceful trip down to their Antarctic feeding grounds.

  
A female humpback whale waving to
onlookers with her impressive flipper!

October has brought some amazing sights out on the whale watches, with mums and calves and lots of activity! Those of us on the cruise last Friday were lucky enough to see a mum and her beautiful baby breaching simultaneously, rolling about in the water. An amazing display for onlookers, the huge female then started to teach the tiny calf to slap his (or her!) tail against the water.

We also spotted a pod of the elusive Indo-Pacific Humpback Dolphins out on the whale watch this week, a truly rare sight for this part of Moreton Bay. These shy, pale dolphins typically inhabit areas close to shore or river mouths, and are generally a lot harder to find than their larger bottlenose cousins.

  
An Indo-Pacific Humpback
Dolphin (courtesy of Cetacean Society International).

Shadow celebrated her 15th birthday yesterday! Tinkerbell's younger sister and mother to two adorable calves (Silhouette, 5 & Zephyr, 1) Shadow is one of the cheekiest and most vocal of the dolphins at Tangalooma, often whistling, clicking and buzzing during the feed. We all wish Shadow a very happy birthday and hope her 15th year is full of fish!

We've been getting great attendance over the last few weeks at the dolphin feed, with our mature males making regular appearances and flirting with some of our females. As Tangles celebrated her 9th birthday just last month, she's fast becoming mature and it's no surprise the boys are giving her lots of attention!