Whale Watching Season 2019 off and running!
Wow! What an exciting start to our 2019 Whale Watching season! As we set out on our first whale watch of the season, the waters were already alive with activity, from large pods of playful dolphins surfing the waves to flocks of seabirds taking advantage of the plentiful fish in the calm of the bay.
We had barely reached Cape Moreton before we were surrounded by pods of whales breaching and tail slapping, much to the delight of the guests. To see these enormous majestic mammals launching themselves out of the water and crashing back down into the ocean is an unforgettable experience, and Humpback Highway certainly provides some of the best whale action on the East Coast of Australia!
Why do whales do this? Well, researchers believe that this type of behaviour is a form of communication, so clearly, they were very chatty that day! At one stage we had two large male humpbacks ‘mobbing’ the vessel, moving from side to side by swimming underneath and then popping back up again. The guests onboard had to race across the vessel backwards and forwards to spot them, which resulted in some amazing captured footage.
The males then set off north, swimming at full speed and clearly trying to catch up with another pod of female whales. We even had a close encounter with a false killer whale which was a unique and rare experience for everyone onboard (including the Eco Ranger!).
There is so much whale action happening on the coastline of Moreton Island right now and we are looking forward to seeing more and more whales and their spectacular performances during the coming weeks.
Eco Rangers Josh, Dan & Nick