25 May 2022
With perfect offshore conditions but a few clouds lingering in the sky the crew set off to find some whales.
Once the crew cleared the heads of Port Stephens they noticed conditions where ideal for Whale watching, with passengers located all around the vessel and looking for that puff of smoke, aka the blow from a whale, unfortunately none were spotted.
It is rare not to find whales on during a whale watch cruise but it can happen, and that’s the beauty of viewing these majestic creatures in their environment, they can be unpredictable. Moonshadow-TQC has over 40 years experience Whale and Dolphin watching and the crew are highly trained in sea conditions and animal behavior but sometimes (only sometimes) a cruise may not spot whales.
The cruise was still a success with Common Dolphin being spotted off shore, now Common Dolphins are a sight to see as they travel in large pods, sometimes up to 100 in a single pod and they will make a B-line straight to the front of a moving vessel to surf the bow wave and wake that comes off the vessel as she travels across the water.
Fun Fact: The Common Dolphin has an attractively marked flank of yellow, buff and grey patches that forms a sweeping hour glass shape providing a start contrast of their dark grey upper body and white belly. A number of bold dark stripes sweeping along the body further add to the dramatic appearance of this species.