23 OCTOBER 2026
A fantastic day of whale watching around Port Stephens! Our morning crew located three separate pods of humpbacks near Boondelbah Island, with mothers and their calves travelling together. We followed these beautiful family groups towards Fingal Island and spent around 20 minutes enjoying their company before continuing our search for more whale action.
We soon came across another four large humpbacks cruising close to the rocks around Fingal Island. We travelled alongside them as they continued south, enjoying some excellent surface time and fantastic views of these magnificent animals in their natural environment. These whales gave us some brilliant moments, including impressive tail shots as they prepared to dive and powerful peduncle throws right in front of the boat!
The dolphins were out enjoying themselves, too! Offshore near Fingal Lighthouse, we found a huge pod of oceanic dolphins. These large, powerful dolphins were surfing the swell and riding our bow waves, putting on a fantastic display as they moved through the water alongside us. Closer to home, we also spotted some of our local bottlenose dolphins around Tomaree Headland, adding another lovely wildlife encounter to an already busy morning.
In the afternoon, we headed north after cruising through the headlands and found two pods, each with a mother and calf. The second pod was particularly active, showing off their strength with powerful peduncle throws, swinging their tails and creating plenty of white-water splashes!
Both pods spent plenty of time at the surface, with very little time spent on deeper sounding dives, giving everyone wonderful opportunities to watch them. We also spotted bottlenose dolphins around Yacaaba Headland, rounding out a fantastic afternoon.
Conditions were a little choppy, but the wildlife certainly made up for it! With several humpback pods, mothers and calves, impressive whale behaviour and dolphins surfing the waves, it was another memorable day out on the water with Moonshadow-TQC Cruises.
Photo credit: Lee Matthews Photography