Whale Sightings

What a fantastic day of wildlife encounters in Port Stephens! This morning aboard MV Osprey, our first humpback encounter came just off Fingal Lighthouse, where a juvenile whale was steadily making its way north. Spending around four minutes underwater between dives, this youngster gave us some beautiful tail shots and delighted passengers by surfacing nice and close to the vessel. Continuing towards Middle Island, we found several more humpbacks spread throughout the area, travelling leisurely north and providing some wonderful surface time. Then came one of the highlights of the morning – a huge pod of approximately 50 oceanic dolphins! They were jumping, bounding and playing around the vessel and, even more incredibly, interacting around the humpback whales. With dolphins leaping in every direction and whales surfacing nearby, there was almost too much wildlife to watch at once! Several more whales could also be seen well offshore, appearing to travel southbound.

The action continued into the afternoon, with four groups of humpbacks around Fingal Island two heading north and two travelling south. We joined three fast-moving whales heading north, enjoying plenty of surface time as we followed their journey for around 45 minutes. On our way towards Cabbage Tree Island, another pod of oceanic dolphins made an appearance before we visited some of our local seals relaxing around the island’s north-eastern side. To finish an already brilliant day, a pod of bottlenose dolphins greeted us in the middle of the harbour on our journey home. From humpbacks and oceanic dolphins to seals and bottlenose dolphins, it was another spectacular day showcasing the incredible diversity of marine life currently moving through the waters of Port Stephens with Moonshadow-TQC Cruises.