8 JUNE 2024
Oh my gosh the Port Stephens Whale Highway is busy! It’s time to grab the beanie, scarf & jacket to jump onboard a whale watch cruise. This mornings 10am cruise aboard the Hinchinbrook Explorer has cruised past the Fingal Island Lighthouse & have reported seeing pods of Humpback Whales everywhere. Our passengers are being spoilt with so many whales in the vicinity and they are super active this morning with whales breaching, head lunging, tail slapping, pec slapping and rolling around on the surface of the water. If that wasn’t enough a pod of 200+ Common Dolphins have greeted the vessel and joined the bow wave as we have cruised along.
Captain James on our 11am Whale Watch Cruise aboard MV Opsrey has located a pod of two medium sized Humpback Whales just north of Fingal Island which we have cruised along side as they pushed on towards Boondelbah Island. These two whales have breached in spectacular fashion, much to the delight of all onboard. There has then been a very close passing of a trio of Humpback Whales that popped up nice and close. There are just whales everywhere and all seemed to be activated with the westerly wind condition as we can see lots of communication occurring between pods. The seal count at Cabbage Tree is at 14 lazy seals basking in the sun! As we have cruised back into the bay and cruised along the beach front of Jimmys Beach there is a pod of 12 – 15 of the local Bottlenose Dolphins including matriarch Nikky the Dolphin and also a very young calf.