27 JUNE 2024
Heading out past Mount Tomaree for the first whale watch cruise of the day a couple of Dolphins have swam over to say hello. Cruising further out in line to the Fingal Island Lighthouse we have located a pod of very active whales that displaying signs of a heat run with all whales moving very quickly in the water and being quite aggressive with each other as they try to win the attraction of the female whale in the pod. This pod was heading south bound, so Captain Belinda have continued our journey north to view another pods that we can see in the distance. But as it happens whenever you turn your back on a whale they start showing off, so we have made our way back to the first pod. At times the whales appeared to be moving in a circle, and on occasion have swam quite close to the vessel giving everyone onboard a very close encounter.
Cabbage Tree Island is the next on the cruise, finding the Australian Fur Seals is like looking for a rock resting on a rock as the seals blend in with the environment. One of the younger seals is seen making its way down the rock face past a much larger adult seal who was not impressed at being disturbed and bearing his teeth to the young seal who has dived off the rock into the water.
Blue skys, calm seas and an abundance of whales traveling the Whale Highway have made for a spectacular afternoon of whale watching aboard MV Osprey. There are whales in every direction, but we have cruised along side of pod of whales involved in a heat run. There movements were quite erratic as the males tried to dominate their presence. At one point one of the Humpback Whales swam very close along the side of Osprey giving everyone onboard a close view as it came to the surface of the water.
You needed to be on the ball to witness a breaching whale this afternoon, with a number of sneaky breaches on display.