10 JULY 2024
This morning on board Hinchinbrook Explorer our skipper decided to head right past Fingal Island and down towards Birubi Point where the extra distance did not disappoint and certainly paid off. We soon located a pod of around four or so humpback whales who looked to be enjoying the sunny day here with pectoral fin slaps, tail slaps and a surprise breach in the distance.
The crew then saw one lone whale already heading south, maybe it was hungry already and keen to get back to its feeding ground?
Beginning our journey back, we came across another three northern migrating humpbacks just off Fingal Island, and to our passenger and crew’s surprise, a Hammerhead Shark near the surface.
Our 1:30pm Whale cruise was also a hard one to beat with our crew saying there were ” whales everywhere!” In particular though what had our crew and passengers excited were three very active whales they located just off Fingal Island. They were very nice and close to the boat showing our passengers lots of tail slaps & pectoral fin slaps with onlookers describing it as though they were ‘waving’ at us. There were also a few close breaches which is certainly a sight to see especially so close.
The common dolphins didn’t want to miss out on the fun as we found again that there were ” dolphin’s everywhere!”. Even at one point seen to be riding the pressure waves off the whales.
As we made our way back into Nelson Bay we stopped briefly at Cabbage Tree Island and saw lots of Australian fur seals making the most of the clear weather and sunning themselves on the rocks.