Gold Coast Whale Report Sunday 26 June 2011

What a magnificant day here off the Gold Coast with clear skies, calm seas and heaps of whales.  We had two trips today with around 10 humpbacks this morning and 11 this afternoon.  The water being so calm kept the whales calm as well.  All whales travelling around 4 knots with a couple of breaching whales out further.

At one stage this morning we had 4 pods all around the boat, where to look ???  Whales were tail flicking, rolling over, they came to the boat – fantastic.  Lots of whales off Tugun about 2-4 miles off.  We had dolphins today too.

The afternoon trip was picture perfect with calm seas and plenty of whales a few breaches.  We put the hydrophones over the side and the whales were singing.

Nice day and plenty of whales – best year so far that we have ever seen.

This has been Carol

The Whale Women

Gold Coast Whale Sightings Report Monday 27 June 2011

A beautiful day off the Gold Coast with calm seas again and very quiet whales – all resting and taking full advantage of the calm conditions.

We had around 5 pods with 7 humpbacks, so most of the pods were singles today, had a lot of single pods yesterday as well, lots of juveniles coming through.

We found whales by 9.20am, first pod about 2 miles off the Tweed Bar, most of our whales today we had around 5 miles, at one stage we had several pods around the boat.  We put the hydrophones over the side and could hear them singing again.

Another magic day on the Gold Coast with our beautiful humpbacks

Carol – The Whale Women

Gold Coast Whale Sightings Report Tuesday 28 June 2011

WHAT A FANTASTIC DAY – THE WHALES TODAY WERE ABSOLUTELY AWESOME!!!

We found our first pod of humpbacks by 9.20am and they just didn’t stop all trip.  We encountered 11 pods and around 24 humpbacks.  The action started straight off with breaching out wide so off we went and found 4 humpbacks at play about 4 miles off Coolangatta.

Today we had breaching, pectoral fin slapping, tail lobbing, rolling over, chasing and all sorts of excitement made this day pure magic!!

The whales are travelling faster today because they were all chasing each other, it is the mating season and the whales are in full swing, one pod of 3 joined a pod of 2 and the fun began, they were racing from one side of the place to the other, turning around and then heading our way we made ready for 5 whales racing to the boat.  OMG the screams of joy could be heard everywhere as these whales came within meters of the boat, rolling over, one whale half breached right in front of the boat as he leaned towards another whale – pure magic!

As if this wasn’t enough excitement we had one whale going from pod to pod to try and find a mate, he came over and had a good look at us 3 times – we weren’t suitable to mate with !! he then headed back south to one whale coming up from behind and joined that whale – how exciting and came back past us with his new found friend.

What a great day – everyone had a great time.

Carol – The Whale Women

Gold Coast Whale Sightings Report Saturday 25 June 2011

The weather here off the Gold Coast this morning was glorious with plenty of sunshine, no sign of the rain predicted yesterday.  The sea was calm with a slight wind chop and not overly cold. 

We found our first pod of humpback whales by 9.25am nice and close off the Coolangatta headland with two pods spotted pretty much straight away – but they were very quiet in the water and both single whales – so we left these and headed out further to around 5 miles off shore.

By 10am we had about 4 pods within the area, a couple of pods just poking along, all singles again – how amazing this was today, all the pods we came across were singles – haven’t seen that before.  We had one whale breaching and then porpoising, another one started breaching and finally two whales came together and travelled along together.

The whales were heaps good today and everyone was very happy with the trip.  We came across another lone whale on the way back in just off the Tweed bar, another one that was quiet in the water, I reckon they declared today a rest day here off Coolangatta with a few whales breaching throughout the morning and one whale porpoising, at least these happy whales were not divers, so we all got plenty of whales on the surface.

This has been Carol signing off from another fantastic whale watching day

Gold Coast Whale Sightings Report for Friday 24 June 2011

Another successful day out on the high sea off the Gold Coast here in Coolangatta.  Today we found whales by 9.28am a pair of whales out around 6 miles off shore, they were happy just swimming along, not overly active so we left this pair and went to another pair that were double breaching and continued to do so for most of the morning off the Gold Coast, not far off Coolangatta.  I think we had a female and a male happily playing with each other, a very enjoyable morning with this pair.

As we were leaving this pair we noticed another pod just in front of them.

The sea was pretty good in the morning and became choppy by 11.00am, this actually made for some great breaching from the pair.

All in all a great day had by all

Carol

The Whale Women

Gold Coast Whale Sightings Report Wednesday 22/6/11 Another magic day !!! Those humpback whales are certainly putting on a show and what a show it is!!! We had whales by 9.10am this morning off Burleigh, one in the pod and she was tail flicking and rolling over and we soon found out why – and then along came Sam !!! another humpback whale looking to entertain this pretty little female and they had a lovely time, we spent around 40 minutes with the pair playing happily – beautiful We then found many more pods all throughout the morning, plenty of tail flicking, great day. Choppy seas with a bit of northerly wind blowing with clear skies – great day had by all !!! This is so much fun – can’t wait till tomorrow for another fun filled whale action day – bring it on !!!

Carol ‘Whale Women’

Gold Coast Whale Sightings Report Tuesday 21/6/11

What a magic day, the sea was sloppy with a cool wind coming from the north.  The whitecap conditions were perfect for playful whales today.  We found 3 playful whales by 9.35am about 6 miles off shore, we were greeted with double breaches, pec slapping, porpoising and continuous breaching, continuous !!!  The oohs and screams of joy from the boat meant happy days !!!.  By 11.20 we had found some 7 pods with some very exciting whales all morning.

One very friendly whale visited the boat, laying upside down next to the boat, giving us a big pec wave, rolling over and swiming with the boat for about 10 minutes and then off he went, it was sooo good I even ran for the camera.  Couldn’t have asked for better whales today – FANTASTIC – oh hang on a minute these whales are FANTASTIC everyday – well some days the whales are better than others !!!

Carol

Whale Women

Gold Coast Whale Sightings Report for Monday 20th June 2011

Sensational!!!  The only words that can describe the humpback whale northern migration this year!!  We have been finding whales pretty early each day and today was no acception – by 9.10am !!  Once we had spotted our first humpback whale pod about 2 miles off shore, it was pod after pod from here on in!!  There is not a lot of activity with the breaching happening just yet, but plenty of activity with whales chasing each other all over the ocean.

The males, otherwise known as the ‘bulls’ have been pretty busy chasing their female counterparts the ‘cows’ obviously enjoying the warm temperature of the water!

All pods were between 2-6 miles off shore, travelling north, very calm and relaxed with a couple of breaches thrown in for good measure.  All our whales today were found from Coolangatta through to Kirra/Burleigh Heads.

We put the hydrophones over this morning, could just hear faint whale songs, but not enough to think they were close.  No dolphins today.  Great sea conditions with no swell and we could see forever – beaut day!

Migaloo has passed us by, he was spotted off Fraser Island at 1pm yesterday, Sunday 19th June, he is on track with his timing, he comes past around this time every year, just like clockwork !!!  We believe he travelled wide due to the muddy conditions off the mid north coast, whales and dolphins don’t like the muddy water and usually take a wide birth, so Migaloo has travelled well out to sea this year, hence not been seen at all here off the Gold Coast or anywhere in New South Wales!!  We might catch a glimpse on his return, but this is rare.

This has been Carol the ‘Whale Women’

Gold Coast Whale Sightings Report for Sunday19th June 2011

What a beautiful day, we set out over the bar with a full boat of excited passengers eagerly awaiting their first glimpse of the big humpbacks – they didn’t have to wait too long – there she blows – as Tony yells and sure enough a pod of humpbacks, five in fact, by 9.20am !!!!

Today we spent time with 7 pods, totalling 15 humpbacks and one minke whale.  One very friendly whale came to visit and swam around the entire boat, had a good look at us and kept on his way – now that was a thrill !!  Then we had 5 humpbacks that swam pretty close to the boat as they chased each other all over the ocean – fantastic day !!!

The ocean was kind to us as was the weather – sunshine and not so cold today – excellent day out.

This has been Carol ‘The Whale Women’

Gold Coast Whale Sightings Report

My last report was 10th June, we had some pretty ordinary weather here on the Gold Coast and the Cooly Rocks On Car Show so not too many whale watching trips went to sea. 

Saturday 11th – no trip  -  Sunday 12th – no trip really awful weather – Monday 13th – no trip – really awful weather again – Tuesday – same story, rain stopped but a big sea – no trip again !!

Wednesday – Gold Coast Whale Watching resumes with 5 pods of Humpback Whales around 6 miles off shore, whales chasing each other all over the ocean – well it is the mating season after all !!!.  Found our first pod by 9.26am with a flat sea and great conditions.

Thursday – What a beautiful day here on the Gold Coast with heaps and heaps of beautiful humpback whales, we had 10 pods, found the first pod by 9.24am with a couple of pods coming close to the boat for a look at us on their way past, all whales around 6-7 miles out to sea – another successful whale watch !! 19 whales today

Friday – another beautiful day with 7 pods of whales today all around that 6 mile off shore mark, found the first pod by 9.23, had dolphins today.  All whales were quiet in the water today – 18 whales today

Saturday – what a great day today, we had heaps of whales, 12 pods and once again all around 6 miles off shore and we found them by 9.20am, all at that 6 miles off shore again and 4 pods where in around that 3 – 4 miles off Coolangatta around 11am.  24 whales today 

This has been Carol the “Whale Women” until tomorrow