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| Whale Watching in Port Stephens - 2 1/2
hours drive from Sydney, Australia |
General Information
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WHALES
2002.
CLICK
HERE FOR PICS TAKEN 15TH JUNE 2002 OFF MORNA POINT, ANNA
BAY ....
It
is probably the ultimate wildlife experience to witness
the 15m and 48 tonne bulk of the Humpback whale as it
propels itself skyward with powerful thrusts of it's tail
and crashes back into the ocean. Approximately 3,500 humpback
whales migrate north to the tropics from late May to July
and return to the Antarctic in September to November.
The
whales are easily sighted by their tell tale plume of
water spray and usually are quite close in to the shoreline
- pods of whales can be quite playful, slapping the water
with their tails and at times leaping almost right out
of the water. Because
the islands and headlands off Port Stephens extend so
far east, the whales come in very close to the mainland
on this 5,000km migration. Brydes whales, Minke and Killer
whales are also seen regularly.
The best way to see the whales is on a cruise but they
can also be seen close to the shore from Fingal to Anna
Bay - look for the whale blow as it comes up to breathe.
On a good day, it can be seen as far away as 2km, surfacing
for four or five breaths every 4 to 8 minutes.
Whale
watching cruises leave the Cruise-In
Booking Terminal in Nelson Bay on a daily basis and
you are almost guaranteed of seeing whales up close yourself.
Read below about a whale watch cruise I experienced recently
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"Moonshadow" Whale Watch
Cruise |
29.06.2000
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Boat:
Moonshadow IV.
Booking information: Cruise-In
Booking Office, Nelson Bay 49 841262
Photographer: All pics taken by Paul Toogood
Thursday afternoon 29th July 2000
Photographic Equipment: Entry level 35mm Minolta
500Si camera with a budget 300mm zoom lens. Film used
is Agfa 100ASA purchased from BiLo supermarket in Nelson
Bay ( $10 for 3 rolls ). First 4 pics and the animation
sequence on the Dunesnet.com front page taken with a
Canon AZ5 Zoom digital camera.
What
a great day! Moonshadow have a 3 hour afternoon Whale
Watch cruise and nearly always spot whales this time
of year. This was the first boat based whale spotting
we've done since moving here, although many times we've
sat on the rocks at Birubi Point and watched the whales
resting just off the shore.
Barely 20 minutes after leaving the Nelson Bay Marina,
the "Imagine" and "Moonshadow" were
both just through Tomaree Heads when the first whales
were spotted. What followed was an at times rather exciting
spectacle put on by the whales. After following a group
of 5 whales for a while, we motored towards Broughton
Island and more whales before turning back.
On
the way back to the Nelson Bay marina, spotted a few
dolphins frolicking outside Shoal Bay and then picked
up a large pod of perhaps 20 or so dolphins in the middle
of the bay before heading home as the sun was setting.
Played 'tag' with the "Imagine" for the whole
afternoon and managed to pick up a few good pics of
her ( one rather spectacular pic of a huge whale crashing
into the water just in front "Imagine" ) and
the whales and dolphins.
Pics
below are small sized, click on pic for larger version.
Note file sizes are fairly high and may take time to
load on a slower connection. High quality pics available
for download. EMAIL
REQUEST
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Bow
of the "Moonshadow" about to go past
Tomaree Head.
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As
we were going past Tomaree Head, a solitary dolphin
picked up the bow wave of the boat.
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To
the delight of the passengers, the dolphin stayed
with the boat for about 5 minutes.
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From
the stern of the "Moonshadow" looking
back to Broughton Island.
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Just
outside the heads, the first whale plumes were
spotted.
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The
first group of whales were with the boat for almost
an hour.
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Great
pic of a whale crashing into the water ...
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right in front of the "Imagine". Heard
later a few passengers needed a towel!
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Amazing
what photo results budget film can produce!
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You
need to be close to get a feel of the sheer size.
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On
return trip, dolphins with Shoal Bay in background.
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Closeup
of one of the Shoal Bay dolphins.
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Dolphins
playing in the middle of the Bay.
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Part
of the pod of 20 dolphins spotted on the return
trip.
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"Imagine"
heading home after 4 hour whale watch cruise.
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"Imagine" at sunset with Soldiers Point
in the background.
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More Holiday Choices:
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Cairns
Port
Douglas
Mission
Beach Hamilton
Island
Shoal
Bay
