1 OCTOBER 2026
A fantastic start to the day! We began with a beautiful family sighting inside the bay, where Mum, her calf and an escort were cruising together before making their way out past the harbour. Mum even treated us to a few spectacular pectoral fin slaps (pec slaps) along the way!
As we headed offshore, we were joined by a pod of bottlenose dolphins slowly making their way east. Around Boondelbah Island, they were cruising and surfing the waves, clearly enjoying themselves and providing plenty of entertainment along the way.
Just near Little Island, we found two large humpbacks casually travelling south. They gave us some lovely surface time, including tail slaps and tail dives, before disappearing for a short while.
Around 20 minutes later, the encounter became even more exciting as several more whales joined them, growing the group to five or six humpbacks, including a calf. The whales spent quite some time circling around the boat, giving everyone on board some wonderful views of this larger group.
The afternoon delivered another beautiful family encounter, with three humpbacks — Mum, Calf and Escort – found just off Boondelbah Island. The trio stayed circling in the same area for quite some time, giving us some fantastic surface time and plenty of opportunities to watch their natural behaviour. Mum and the escort showed off with some lovely pec slaps and tail lobs, while the calf gave us a very special little “baby breach” – a sneaky burst of excitement that had everyone watching closely!
While we were enjoying the family pod, we could also see a whale breaching in the distance near Cabbage Tree Island, adding another layer of excitement to the afternoon.
It was a little rolly on the water this afternoon, but that certainly didn’t stop the wildlife from putting on a great show. Another wonderful day of humpbacks, playful dolphins and plenty of memorable moments out on the water!
Photo Credit: Lee Matthews Photography