How can you possibly beat the experience that whale watching brings you?  You can experience the thrill of the majestic humpback whale as he glides through the water on his way north to breed in far north Queensland – it’s just awesome.

Thursday – 24th June – 8 whales

What a great day we had today, the boat had a fantastic energy feel this morning – everyone was happy and eager to see their first whale.  One couple had been whale watching four times before on other boats (not ours) and had NEVER seen a whale on any of these trips -  I congratulated them on their persistence in trying to see a whale and I promised them they would see a whale with me – and sure enough we had a great day with plenty of whale action – they were ever so thankful and have gone away very very happy with their experience.

We enjoyed one pod of three whales breaching madly around 4.5 miles out to sea, the pod split and one whale went off on his own whilst the other two stayed with us and becoming quite inquisitive at times and swimming under the boat – everyone really enjoyed that.

We then had whales coming up from the south, a fair bit of down time for those ones, so we didn’t see them too often but we had another pod breaching off Cook Island about 4 miles out to sea and that excited everyone as they breached and rolled over – great stuff.

We had a beautiful albatross circling the boat – what a beautiful sight they are, with their wings spanning upto 11 feet (3.4m) weighing in around 10kg, these sea birds are rarely seen on land and gather only to breed in large colonies on islands producing one single egg in which the parents share in the care of.  Their diet consists of squid and schooling fish. An amazing bird – I really like the Albatross.

The next few days are looking great for whale watching – Migaloo has eluded us all thus far – no one has seen him for days – or was the original sighting a hoax !!!  No photographic evidence just yet has surfaced – we had him last year 1st July and that is next week – keep you posted.

Friday 25th – 8 whales

We found whales by 9.25 straight off Fingal Head about 3 miles off shore, another pod of 1 whale breaching behind the first pod and they came straight to the boat – great stuff.  We left this lot and headed out to sea where we could see breaching whales off in the distance, we came across a pod of 4 very active whales with constant breaching and chasing each other around the sea – after all it is mating season and we figured we had one female whale being harrassed by 3 males as her head kept on bobbing to the surface as the males surrounded her – very active today.  They continued to breach even as we left them to their games and headed back into shore.  On our way in just off Cooli and single whale, that we didn’t even know was there just launched itself out of the water about 200 meters in front of the boat and breached again for us – wow what a great day.  We saw loads of breaching out on the horizon, had 2 dolphins in the river, no dolphins out to sea today.

Saturday 26th – 15 whales

Found the whales around 9.25 again today, one small lonely whale off Cooli and then one other larger whale was racing over to be with the first whale, once he caught up, they raced along breaching and a couple of times breached together, one lucky customer photographed this, we had spy hops in the distance and tail flukes.  After around 30 minutes they went their separate ways and continued on their way.  We left them and headed south out to around 52 meters of water, where we have been finding most of our pods.  There we found yet again another pod of 4 whales pushing and shoving – doing the same as yesterday !!

Left this pod after a while of observation as they headed out to sea and found another pod of 2, another pod of 2 porpoising making their way to each other.  Found another pod off Cooli and another pod off Cook.  Had Albatross again today, only one though, don’t seem to see them in pairs out to sea.

Just a couple of shots from this week – fabulous week of whales

The boys went out for a dive and snorkel off Cook Island this afternoon and found heaps and heaps of turtles, had dolphins and whales and excellent visability

A great week of whale watching and diving

This has been Carol the “Whale Women” until next time – happy whale watching

PS:  There will be no COMMERCIAL WHALING – fantastic news – the IWC has voted no to this rediculous behaviour – though allowing Greenland to slaughter 10 humpback whales every year for three years – this is a very sad announcement – we will keep fighting to save whales each and every day

 Monday 21st – 9 whales

Whales breaching off Cook Island off Fingal Head, Gold Coast about 2.5 miles off shore – found them pretty early in the trip – great stuff – happy little whales.  Found another pod of 2 off Coolangatta, they were moving slowly north and heading out to sea, we could see whales breaching on the horizon, where our whales were heading out to.  We shortly came across another whale off Burleigh, not active and on his own.  On our way back into Coolangatta we came across two more pods of 2 whales in each.

The sea became sloppy by around 11am but the morning was great and we all had heaps of fun – as i do !!! 

Tuesday 22nd June – 10 whales

A sloppy sea this morning but we had plenty of whales, we came across around 10 whales and more off the horizon breaching. We moved between 3 pods, we had some breaching but most of the time these whales were on a mission and heading north steadily.  The last pod we came across was breaching, rolling over and pectoral fin slapping.  All in all a pretty good day with plenty of whales now starting to come past.

We are expecting Migaloo to swim past over the next 48 hours, he has been travelling slowly up the coast or so people have reported, we don’t have any photographic evidence yet though, he would normally come past the  Gold Coast last June early July, so he is pretty much on track with every other year.  Whether we get him past here during the night or on one of our trips is another thing !!

Today I received this lovely email from Nerida who came out with us on the 16th with her family and she has sent me this email – thought I would share this one with you all.

Carol, & team

THANK YOU so very much for a wonderful whale watching tour. Sea-sickness for 2, and the roller-coaster ride on water not withstanding, we all (yes all) had a beaut time and felt very well looked after with the personal and caring service offered the whole way there and back. We surprised ourselves with actually getting a few photos we are happy with also :

This was one highlight of our week long stay …thank you again J  Will recommend your tour group to our friends/family should they go to QLD, and will certainly be happy to go out with you again myself.

Thank you

Best regards

Nerida

Trip 16th June 2010

We are heading out again tomorrow and will be on the lookout for Migaloo

This has been Carol the ‘Whale Women’ until next time

Sightings this week:

Mondays photos 14 June 2010

Tuesday 15 June 2010  - 4 whales

Sloppy sea and a bit warmer today.  Found 1 pod with 2 whales off Burleigh, around 5 miles.  This cow and her last year calf we not active at all – in fact – not at all interested in us today.  We left this pair and headed south and found 2 more whales off Cook Island around 4.5 miles.  This pod gave us one breach and also very quiet in the water.

Wedensday  16 June 2010- 4 whales

Reasonable sea conditions with a gentle swell and nice winter conditions.  Found 1 pod f 2 whales straight off Coolangatta by 9.30am.  The pod entertained us with breaching – fantastic stuff.  We then spotted two other pods, so in the end all three pods joined for some play time.  Great Day

  Even got Mt Warning in this one – what a life !!

Thursday  17 June 2010 – 5 whales

A fantastic day out with the whales, we found one pod of 2 breaching whales off Cook Island around the 9 miles reef (4.5 miles out to sea).  Then another pod of 2 whales and another pod of 1 whales.  All pods were in around the 5 miles off shore and spread over a few kilometers today.  Had a great day today.

Friday 18 June 2010 - did not go to sea

Saturday  19 June 2010- 2 whales

We left the Tweed Bar and straight away found a pod of whales off Coolangatta about 1 mile off shore, they were not humpbacks, we think they were minke whales feeding, very hard to keep up with them as they moved quickly chasing food, we spent around 20 minutes trying to capture them on film, but they are very quick and only got a few shots.  We left this pod of around 6 and headed south in search of the beautiful humpbacks, it wasn’t too long before we came across a very happy pair of humpbacks straight off Coolangatta, around 4 miles out.  What fantastic whales we had today, they breached and breached and breached, rolled over, tail lobbed and came to the boat a few times which delighted everyone, especially me !!  The pair also porpoised several times – what a show today OMG~!  great stuff  We spent around 1 hour with the pair who were very happy with our company, we bid them goodbye and made our way back towards Coolangatta.  Around 1 mile off the Tweed Bar we were greeted by a very large pod of Common Dolphins who joined the boat and swam with us for around 5 minutes – another fantastic day.

  This was today’s little beauty – we had this action all hour – awesome !!!

What more can I say,

Check this little guy out – double breaches off Coolangatta this morning !!! Great stuff

What a brilliant show we got this morning from this particular whale, he had a mate that was breaching too – Tony captured some great shots here.  You can see Surfers Paradise in the background.  We came across this pair of humpbacks within 20 minutes of leaving the Tweed River Bar, they were moving along nice and peacefully and after about 40 minutes off they went, breach after breach after breach – we were pretty happy little vegemites let me tell you.

The humpback highway is about to get going as more and more whales start to flow through – bring it on I say!!!  God I love Whale Watching Season

This has been Carol the “Whale Women” until my next exciting report

Well here we are half way through June and it’s cold as !!!  That southerly wind has a chill factor that goes through your bones – so we are rugging up out to sea and here in Coolangatta for this year’s Wintersun.  Last week we travelled to sea Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and today, Saturday. 

The whales were playing hard to get last week, we travelled and travelled to find the odd whale, but we found them in the end.  The whales are a lot slower this year to come through, so hopefully that means we will have a longer season – who knows !!  We still have our 100% success rate in tack and that is great, there was a couple of trips there that we thought oh no !! we are going to miss them today but we found them hooray !!  Here are a couple of photo’s from Saturday and Thursdays trip.

Saturday 2 whales next to the boat                                                                            Thursday a breaching whale off Fingal Head

We did not go out whale watching today, Sunday, too windy and rough.  This week the whales will be coming through in larger groups and we look forward to that.

This has been Carol ‘The Whale Women” until tomorrow

Hello everyone, in my last post on Wednesday we had loads of fun, we didn’t go out on Thursday.  Went out on Friday the 4th June, 2010 and it took us 2 hours to find whales.  They are diving for around 10-15 minutes and way way out to sea, around that 10 mile mark.  Nearly impossible to see them from the shore today, unless you have a good set of eyes.  We eventually found 3 large humpback whales off Coolangatta around the 9 mile mark.  They were happily travelling north.  The sea was magnificant.  We saw heaps of common and large bottlenose dolphins, around 3 pods.  All in all a great day out.  Our 100% success rate still stands 4 yrs running – thank goodness for that !!!

Did not go on Saturday.

Today, Sunday, hard job again, we travelled many many miles in search of our magnificant mammals to only find one whale off Kingscliff and once again around 10 miles out to sea.  There wasn’t a blow or a breach anywhere in the distance.  We had a couple of pods of dolphins that were feeding, not interested in coming to the boat today, not like Friday when the dolphins were literally everywhere and really happy swimming with the boat.  Sea today was a little on the swelly side, pretty good really, loads of sunshine. Everyone had a great time and as we only saw one whale we offered everyone a return trip if they wished.  There are hardly any ganets about, which is unusual for this time of year, I think we are going to get bombarded very very soon with heaps of whales, I think by weeks end they will be everywhere.

Until next time this has been Carol ‘The Whale Women”

Happy Whale Watching

Below is  Sea Shepherd information on the Japanese, Iceland and Norway Commercial Whaling – let’s get together and stop this from going ahead – we must act now before it is too late.  The Australian Government have finally come to the fore with Legal Action – hooray about time!!  No more kills No more spills No more deaths in our oceans

Finally- Australian Government Initiates Legal Action on Japanese Whaling

It has taken three years, but finally the government of Kevin Rudd has decided to act on their election promise of 2007.

Australia is officially initiating a legal action against Japanese whaling in the International Court of Justice in the Hague, Netherlands.

“The Australian government has not taken this decision lightly,” Environment Protection Minister Peter Garrett, Foreign Affairs Minister Stephen Smith and Attorney-General Robert McClelland said in a statement.

This is the statement from the government of Australia:

STEPHEN SMITH MP
Minister for Foreign Affairs

PETER GARRETT MP
Minister for Environment Protection, Heritage and the Arts

ROBERT McCLELLAND MP
Attorney-General

28 May 2010

GOVERNMENT INITIATES LEGAL ACTION AGAINST JAPANESE WHALING

Australia will initiate legal action in the International Court of Justice in The Hague against Japanese ‘scientific’ whaling in the Southern Ocean.

The decision underlines the Government’s commitment to bring to an end Japan’s program of so-called ‘scientific’ whaling in the Southern Ocean.  It also demonstrates our commitment to do what it takes to end whaling globally. 

The Australian Government has not taken this decision lightly. We have been patient and committed in our efforts to find a diplomatic resolution to this issue. We have engaged in intensive discussions in the International Whaling Commission (IWC) and bilaterally with Japan.

We have enjoyed the support of many other IWC members who share Australia’s concerns and goals.  We commend countries of the European Union, the Buenos Aires group of Latin American countries, and others who have joined with Australia in highlighting, in particular, the necessity for phasing out whaling in the Southern Ocean Sanctuary.

But to date, the response of the whaling countries has not been positive.  Recent statements by whaling countries in the Commission have provided Australia with little cause for hope that our serious commitment to conservation of the world’s whales will be reflected in any potential IWC compromise agreement.

The Government has always been firm in our resolve that if we could not find a diplomatic resolution to our differences over this issue, we would pursue legal action.  The Government’s action fulfils that commitment. 

Australia will remain closely engaged in the IWC process and will continue to work hard in the lead up to and at the IWC meeting in June to pursue our objectives  While an outcome at that meeting which meets Australia’s fundamental conservation objectives is slim, the Government will continue to engage constructively in the diplomatic effort. 

Australia and Japan share a comprehensive strategic, security and economic partnership.  We share a substantial commercial relationship built over many decades, growing strategic and security linkages, and work together closely in key international forums such as the G20, the United Nations, the World Trade Organisation and APEC.   

The Government’s action today reflects a disagreement in one element of a relationship that is deep, broad and multi-dimensional.

Both Australia and Japan have agreed that, whatever our differences on whaling, this issue should not be allowed to jeopardise the strength and the growth of our bilateral relationship.

At the same time, the Australian Government will keep working tirelessly to achieve an end to whaling in the Southern Ocean, and we will use all legal and diplomatic avenues to achieve our goal. 

A formal application will be lodged in The Hague early next week.

Sea Shepherd Response

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society supports the initiative by the government of Australia and views it as a positive development in the effort to end illegal Japanese whaling operations in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary.

“At last, some action out of Canberra,” said Captain Paul Watson. “We need a definitive international judicial answer to this continuing controversy in the Southern Ocean. We trust that the international court will side with Australia to deliver a stern verdict ordering Japan to cease and desist with their unlawful slaughter of endangered and protected whales inside an internationally established whale sanctuary. We trust the court to understand just what the word ‘sanctuary’ means.”

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is preparing to return to the Southern Ocean in December 2010 for Operation No Compromise, the 7th Sea Shepherd voyage to intercept and intervene against illegal Japanese whaling activities. 

“This action by Australia lends further credibility to our in the field intervention activities in the Southern Ocean,” said Captain Paul Watson from Brisbane, Australia.

The Humpback Whale Watching season is off to a great start.  Tony and I went out this morning for the first time this season and were pleasantly surprised with what we found.  Just 3 miles off the Coolangatta head land we came across our first whale “there she blows” calls out Tony, well the excitement was pumping as we awaited the next blow, then there it was again – yippee !!!  As we patiently waited for the humpback to surface again, “there she blows over there” another pod about 4oo meters to the left – we couldn’t believe our luck – our first trip out and we had two pods.

But wait there’s more – as we sat waiting and waiting and waiting – there in front of us the most beautiful thing out – our beautiful humpback breached – didn’t that get everyone screaming, the children onboard were going crazy, screaming and jumping all over the deck, then off she went again – oh yes this was good, by now I’m up to the railing and yelling out with joy. As we were getting over this excitement we spotted another pod out wider and the other pod coming to the surface about every 10 minutes.  Then our happy humpback came to the surface again, took the regular 3 breathes and then tail dives to our joy yet another breach – sweet!!!  So by now we are all very happy little vegemites!!!  We spent about 1 1/2 hours with our friendly whale and left him to continue his journey.  But wait there’s more !!!  how much better can this get – yes it can !!  We came across around 100 dolphins – my goodness how good is this, they came to the boat and swam with us for around 10 minutes, there were calves splashing around, common dolphins riding the bow wake, as we all looked over the front of the boat you could see heaps and heaps of common dolphins swimming under us – what a fantastic day out !!!

So all in all a great day and hope there’s plenty more of them

This has been Carol ‘The Whale Women’ until tomorrow