10 September 2024
Spring is in the air! Off shore sea conditions are beautiful today with plenty of sunshine and light sea breeze. The crew onboard MV Osprey have reported that there are whales in abundance with pods of Humpback Whales heading south bound, other heading in a northerly direct and others being a little more confused and swimming north-easterly. All whales sighted this morning were just happliy continuing their mirgation along the Port Stephens coastline.
Before returning to the dock we have cruised past Cabbage Tree Island to find 5 seals basking in the spring sunshine on the rocks, and then another 3 seals swimming in the clear aqua water.
The afternoon cruise saw plenty of action near Cabbage Tree Island with a heat run of 4 or 5 whales. We also saw lots of Shearwaters. These tubenose birds fly with stiff wings and use a “shearing” flight technique (flying very close to the water and seemingly cutting or “shearing” the tips of waves) to move across wave fronts with the minimum of active flight. They feed on fish, squid, and similar oceanic food. Some will follow fishing boats to take scraps, commonly the sooty shearwater; these species also commonly follow whales to feed on fish disturbed by them. Their primary feeding technique is diving, with some species diving to depths of 70 m.