Whale Sightings

It seems too early in the season to be sighting south bound whales, but this morning the crew have spotted a lone Humpback Whale heading in a southerly direction as we reached the open ocean. We have followed along side this whale before locating a pod of two Humpback Whales close to the entrance of…

Alert – cute baby pictures incoming! We have spotted a beautiful Humpback Whale swimming along side her very little calf this morning, with regulations in place to protect calves we have given the pair plenty of space but the images captured by our local photographer, Lee Matthews shows the gorgeous tiny calf in a lot…

On a day that felt more like spring than winter we have been blessed with amazing sea conditions with no swell or wind off shore during our whale watch. Our first wildlife encounter for the day was a pod of the local Bottlenose Dolphins as we cruised out of the Bay. We have located a…

This morning on board our Hinchinbrook Explorer our crew reported back “heaps of whales!!” There were 8 or more that they could see in the distance breaching and tail slapping etc, but when we got closer they stopped all their tricks and went a bit shy. Still giving us good surface time, but just a…

The crew on the Hinchinbrook Explorer have headed straight out through the headland at Shoal Bay and motored towards the Fingal Island Lighthouse where we have located a pod of two Humpback Whales. Both whales were spending a good amount of time on the surface of the water giving everyone onboard a chance to take…

You can’t have a rainbow without a little rain and Port Stephens was certainly displaying a number of vibrant coloured rainbow this morning. The Hinchinbrook Explorer has traveled a little further off shore to locate today’s Humpback Whales, both whales were quite active putting on a wonderful display of strength as their strong tails slapped…

The showery start to Sunday morning has lifted in time for the departure of our 10am whale watch cruise aboard the Hinchinbrook Explorer. The crew have located a pod of three Humpback Whales close to the Fingal Island Lighthouse which we have tracked along side of. Our passengers on the front deck were witness to…

This morning we had four pods of Humpback’s join us for some play time doing all the things! A few more were in the distance and also a lone ranger out near Fingal Lighthouse who looked like it didn’t know if it was coming or going! For a while it was swimming north, and then…

This morning on board Hinchinbrook Explorer we came across 2 adult whales with their calf, coming in fairly close to us and being a bit inquisitive. They then decided to show off with a few tail lobs here and there, and gave us some good surface time to spend with them. Although a little choppy…

The picturesque shores of Fingal Beach became the heart of an inspiring event called “The Human Whale 2023” as the community came together to pay homage to the awe-inspiring Humpback whales and celebrate all things related to the ocean. The event, held on Sunday 16 July 2023 at 10 am, saw over 1300 like-minded individuals…

If only all winter days at Port Stephens could be a carbon copy of today – warm day time temperatures, blue sky, calm off shore sea conditions and light sea breezes. Today has been magical and full of amazing interaction with the passing Humpback Whales and Off Shore Short Beaked Common Dolphins. Passenger aboard the…

What a day for sea life!  A variety of creatures sighted on all our cruises today. As soon as the 10am Hinchinbrook Explorer cruise entered through the heads into the Humpback highway, a few pods were encountered with 3 to 4 rather large whales travelling north.  They were providing good surface time and activity of…