Ozwhalewatching

Charlotte Jane Kutzner has kindly shared her capture of this afternoon's breach directly alongside. Thanks Charlotte !

After a patient search we were fortunate to find 4 Humpback Whales busy interacting between themselves and Short-beaked Common Dolphins (oops ... almost forgot the Fur Seals). Occasionally they used the MV Jerry Bailey in their interplay, treating all aboard to great views as they surged and jostled their way along, often doing circle work. We were surprised by a massive breach very close alongside and also saw lots of pectoral fin waving, tail slapping and a tail throwing.

We cruised out to about 3 NM east of Sydney Heads where we watched a pair of southbound Humpback Whales which treated us to a number of close drive-bys, a couple of tail slaps and a tail throw. We then headed back inshore where we watched another pair of Humpback Whales engage in similar behaviours, along with pectoral fin slapping. There was a third Humpback present within the the immediate vicinity, making for a total 5 watched for the afternoon.

After seeing an Osprey and a White-bellied Sea Eagle in adjacent trees on the shore of Taylors Bay, we found a southbound juvenile Humpback that came up close by a number of times, tail threw with no warning directly aft and then went into furtive mode. We then went out wider and watched two southbound adults with short downtimes, one of which breached as we arrived. Nice way to spend a Saturday morning.

After sighting a number of furtive presumably southbound whales, we were alerted to the presence of a pair of northbound Humpbacks by splashing to our south. After we arrived within their vicinity we were treated to 6 or 7 breaches and a head slap (yours truly achieved a perfect score by failing to capture any of that action). Great cruise that the pictures don't do justice !

We found 3 Humpback Whales below the North Head Peninsular this afternoon along with Bottlenosed Dolphins. The trio of Humpbacks were busy interacting with each other, sometimes in a robust manner, suggestive of a competition pod as a pair jousted with body contact. They repeatedly approached the MV Jerry Bailey, swimming underneath from side to side, popping up abeam, off the bows or the stern. This may have been a "mugging" but it might well have been them using the Jerry Bailey as a foul during their interaction. This pattern subsided as successive boats arrived, but that activity might have triggered two tail throws. On the way back to Sydney Heads we had a look at the Fur Seals resting on the rock platform below Vaucluse.

A great afternoon watching 2 juvenile Humpback Whales, a Fur Seal and Bottlenosed Dolphins. One of the whales we watched was interacting with a Fur Seal, rolling around and pectorial fin waving. It was a southbounder doing circle work who was sensitive to vessels approaching at speed and breached twice as recreational boat approached on a reciprocal course. This splashing attracted a speedy approach from a much larger vessel which triggered a tail throw and then a series of tail slaps. We were sheltered by the cliffs from the wind and enjoyed pleasant conditions. (Sorry about the delay in processing and posting, but the owls were very interesting !)

Better conditions than expected this afternoon, as we found 6 Humpback Whales in the lee of The Gap. We saw 2 splashing around and had a quick look at them before heading off to more splashing close by, which actually turned out to be a pair of adults and a pair of younger whales. The two pairs split, but the adult without the dorsal fin had a propensity to head towards the MV Jerry Bailey or unexpectedly pop up close alongside ! On the way back we had a look at the Fur Seals hauled out on the rock platform below the Vaucluse cliffline from respectful distance to ensure that we didn't disturb their relaxing break from foraging.

We enjoyed excellent conditions on OWW's luxury cruiser, MV Ocean Blue this afternoon. We initially found 3 Humpback Whales off Dee Why Head, an adult heading off south leaving two presumably southbound Humpbacks doing "circle work" around Ocean Blue. Occasionally they'd come up close alongside, one being particularly easy to track underwater due to its high white flanks. We were treated to a large number of languid fluke-up dives, sometimes the tail being held vertically and then either the ventral or dorsal surfaces every so slowly falling back back into the water. A relaxed cruise with relaxed whales, topped off by a fur seal popping up in from of us off Blue Fish Point.

After a long search we finally watched a pair of active southbound juveniles which pectoral fin waved and slapped that also breached a couple of times whilst we were with them.

We sighted a furtive southbound juvenile Humpback Whale this morning and then sighted another juvenile that was splashing around as we arrived in its vicinity. This second juvenile swam right up to and under the MV Jerry Bailey, then we lost it for a while. Then it surprised us with a breach close by !

It was a day of 2 halves with a disappointing morning cruise and an excellent afternoon cruise. We sighted 3 young southbound Humpback Whales off Sydney's Northern Beaches and when we arrived in their vicinity they were riding the swell, pectoral fin waving and one repeatedly opened its mouth, revealing its Baleen filter plates. They were relaxed with short downtimes, but these downtimes stretched out as more and more boats arrived in the vicinity. However, this increased activity within their environment seemed to trigger a breach directly alongside us and a tail throw. A great cruise for guests and crew.

We watched a northbound Humpback cow and neonate off Manly Beach this afternoon. The cow had white pigmentation high up its flanks, as did its calf, and they both showed up clearly through the water during the short, shallow underwater transits during their uptime. They had very short down times meaning we saw a lot of them, even though we didn't spend much time with them due the newness of the calf. the calf tried to come over a number of times but the cow always put herself between the calf and the MV Jerry Bailey when it got too close. The calf's dorsal fin is almost fully erect and both cow and calf sport Cookie-cutter Shark bites, which isn't too much of a concern.

We found and watched two southbound juvenile whales that seemed to appreciate the MV Jerry Bailey's steady progress. When other boats moved around in the vicinity they drew steadily closer and one of the pair tail threw three times when another boat accelerated rapidly within the area.

After watching 8 Fur Seals hauled out at the base of the Vaucluse cliff-line at a respectful distance, we found and watched two Southern Right Whales off the mouth of Botany Bay this afternoon. One was slightly larger, the smaller of the two was a brindle hue highly suggestive of a male. The two interacted with each other on the surface for the aprox. 30 minutes we were with them, apart from a short downtime when a recreational boat approached them at speed. As with our late...r Humpback sighting, there were different bits and pieces of SRWs sticking out of the water at any one point in time making it very confusing to ascertain what exactly we were looking at ! Given the unfortunately low number of SRWs along the east coast this was a very special encounter and we left their vicinity in the midst of their first downtime of any length to go and watch a very active group of Humpback Whales about 500m to the east.
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Whilst watching the pair of Southern Right Whales off the mouth of Botany Bay, we sighted an active group of Humpback Whales about 500m further east. We headed out to find a surface active minimum configuration competition pod. As with our SRW experience, there were bits and pieces of Humpbacks sticking out of the water at all angles ! They chin slapped, spy hopped, pectoral fin waved and, when other boats approached as we were leaving, tail slapped and tail threw. We enjoyed parting views of a breach and then a double breach. We also caught a glimpse of a southbound Humpback off Macquarie Light. The only downside of what was otherwise an incredible cruise for all aboard was to learn of a deceased Humpback in the Harbour, possibly the same poor juvenile we saw at roughly the same spot earlier in the week.

Beautiful conditions for our morning cruise. We watched a single presumably pregnant adult Humpback Whale for some time, only leaving when too many boats started following it. We then headed a bit north and saw both a pair and another but more inshore single which treated us to a marvellous "drive-by"

We sighted and watched 2 Humpback Whales off Sydney's Eastern Suburbs this afternoon. We suspect the larger one of the two was a pregnant female, whilst the other was a younger escort. They were happy to cruise along with the MV Jerry Bailey only changing their downtimes and speed as other boats approached or left the vicinity. Such movements triggered a breach (no pic), a tail throw (pics of the aftermath including the tips of the 2 pectoral fins) and a tail slap. At one point one rolled on its side, seemingly to get its eye above the water.

Another great cruise this afternoon. We first sighted a small juvenile Humpback Whale just after leaving Sydney Heads. It checked us out at close quarters then started doing a lot of circle work, so we decided to move out wider. We soon sighted a number of Humpback Whales splashing around, which they often do when pushing into the swell and/or seas. We passed one (which turned into two) and watched a very active pair that breached, chin slapped, tail slapped, tail threw and pectoral fin waved. One of the chin slap sequences finishes with a glimpse of Baleen filter plates.

Cannot recommend these guys highly enough.



There is nothing Biggles couldn’t or didn’t tell us, they are brilliantly patient and fully respectful of the fact that we were observing creatures in the wild. We kept distance and did nothing to encourage or harass the whales. What we saw surprised them and thrilled us.



They provided superb food and hospitality, were really friendly and allowed my son and daughter to stand on the bridge when we were waiting to see something.



I wish we had time to go out again with them but if you want to go whale watching, please go with this crew.

Cannot recommend these guys highly enough.



There is nothing Biggles couldn’t or didn’t tell us, they are brilliantly patient and fully respectful of the fact that we were observing creatures in the wild. We kept distance and did nothing to encourage or harass the whales. What we saw surprised them and thrilled us.



They provided superb food and hospitality, were really friendly and allowed my son and daughter to stand on the bridge when we were waiting to see something.



I wish we had time to go out again with them but if you want to go whale watching, please go with this crew.

Cannot recommend these guys highly enough.



There is nothing Biggles couldn’t or didn’t tell us, they are brilliantly patient and fully respectful of the fact that we were observing creatures in the wild. We kept distance and did nothing to encourage or harass the whales. What we saw surprised them and thrilled us.



They provided superb food and hospitality, were really friendly and allowed my son and daughter to stand on the bridge when we were waiting to see something.



I wish we had time to go out again with them but if you want to go whale watching, please go with this crew.