Posts Tagged ‘whale watching tour’

Close to the end of June 2015 and we have soooooooo many whales traveling north on their annual migration. Humpback whales are cruising past the Gold Coast on their journey to the warmer waters of Queensland for the breeding and birthing grounds of the Great Barrier Reef. Some of these whales will travel as far as Fiji and Tonga for their annual pilgrimage to find a mate. This image was taken in the crystal clear waters of Tonga.

On the Gold Coast we are treated to humpback whales from the end

We are now into the 3rd week of the Gold Coast whale watching season passing us on their annual migration along the east coast of Australia. Getaway Sailing has had a 100% sighting success rate in the 5 years we have been operating Gold Coast whale watching tours. This season we still have that 100% success. I have conducted 5 whale watching tours to date this season with humpbacks and dolphins on all of these tours.

Gold Coast Whale Watching
Getaway Sailing on the Gold Coast

Some footage from this season

Whales have been increasing in number off the the NSW North coast. Byron Bay is one of the best places to view humpback whales from land. The headland with the light house is the eastern most point of Australia and is a cliff face high above the waters edge.This gives us the closest possible land based platform to view these majestic animals. A recent dive boat heading out to Julian Rock was fortunate to come across humpbacks heading north and they took these photos. For the full story

Gold Coast Whale Watching Season

better than ever this year!!

No 3 NM limit any more

The Queensland state government has changed the whale watching regulations which banned commercial whale watching tour operators from stopping and viewing whales within 3 nm of the main land. The first 3 NM of ocean along our coastline is the Queensland state Government’s domain. The federal government looks after the ocean from 3 – 200nm. The new legislation allows commercial operators to stop and watch these massive mammals whilst en route to the

The 2013 Gold Coast Whale Watching season is upon us with these majestic mammals swimming pass the Gold Coast for the next 6 months. Migrating Humpback Whales will show off their aerial tricks, tail slapping and syphopping during the Gold Coast Whale Watching Season. Come on a whale watching tour with us and have the closest possible view of these curious critters, with a maximum of 8 guests on board it is a very personal experience. Whilst under sail we often have the Humpbacks swim along side the vessel. They

With the Whale migration starting on the Gold Coast within a couple of weeks  (May 2013) we will be able to see the aerobatic display of the Humpback Whales as the head north along the Humpback Highway towards their breeding and birthing region. Whales are incredible at navigation. They have been traced by GPS tracking systems and shown to cross oceans within 1 degree on a compass of their track from last year. On their way up the coast line with the young males leading we are treated to the tail

Humpback whale song fills the ocean with the whales migrating between the warmer tropical waters of the Great Barrier Reef and rich feeding grounds of the Antarctica waters. These melody’s are heard over thousands of miles of ocean.

Humpback Whale Song of a New Born Calf and Mother

This season Getaway Sailing will be recording the Humpback Whale song with our hydrophone. I will have these whale melody’s posted on the website for all to hear. The call of the Humpback is individual and repetitive. Listen to the

The humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) are a species of baleen whale. They are one of the  larger rorqual species and adults range in length from 12–16 metres and weigh approximately 36,000 kilograms. They are known for their long pectoral fins and knobbly head. In this picture you will notice the size of a pectoral fin is larger than an adult human.

Humpback Whales males are wonderful producers of complex whale songs. I have heard these songs every time the hydrophone is placed in the water during the migration season.

Where Humpback

Scientists suggest that humpback whales sleep with half of their brain still active. They are said to be “logged” or “logging” whilst sleeping at the surface. This is because as they rest they resemble a log floating. I personal have witnessed humpbacks sleeping, the mother was in an inverted vertical position, and stayed this way for more than 25 minutes as her newborn calf swam around close by, never wandering further than 10 meters away. This whale did not move even with the noise of the 2 stroke out board

There are many land based whale watching sites located along the coast line of Australia. During the winter migration Humpback whales travel close to shore making it easy to sight whales from land. It is best done with a pair of binoculars or monoscope. Cameras with high powered telephoto lens are able to take wonderful images from land as well.

Spotting Whales From Land

Humpback Whale Blow

 Tips and Best Position for Land Based 

WHALE WATCHING

When searching the ocean for a whale passing it is best done on