Hi everyone, I hope you and yours are doing well.
Did you enjoy my last post about the dolphins at Monkey Mia?
As promised this time I will take you on an unforgettable whale watching tour which we had off the coast of Denham in Shark Bay, Western Australia.
I cannot thank Shark Bay Eco Tours enough for the amazing tour we had. We had originally booked a sunset cruise with Shark Bay Eco Tours, and then were advised the night before that due to low numbers for the sunset tour they had upgraded us to the 5 hour whale watching cruise at 1pm the next day. What an unexpected bonus for us!
This cruise became the highlight of
our trip.
The all girl crew welcomed us onto the boat and we cruised out to Dirk Hartog Island. The boat wasn't full so we had plenty of room to move around and choose where we wanted to sit or stand.
Here is a map to give you a bit of an idea.
Dirk Hartog island is about 80 kilometres long and forms the western most barrier of Shark Bay. The inner “harbour” is rich with marine life including approximately 10,000 dugongs. - Inspiration Outdoors
Unfortunately we didn't see any dogongs this day - but we did see whales!
These are wild animals, and tour guides cannot predict if or where you will see marine creatures.
Over near Dirk Hartog Island we saw humpback whales slapping
their fins in the distance.
Then unexpectedly six whales swam over to us and frolicked around for about 30-45 minutes within metres of the boat. Absolutely amazing. We could hear them calling to each other and could see them rolling under the water. The female
skipper said she had never witnessed so many around the boat in the seven years she had been doing the tour. It was an incredible experience. And so hard explain how we felt to be so close to these whales as they frolicked and rolled around us. Unforgettable. What a privilege.
Our guide took photos as part of a research project she was involved with.
Our guide said they were males as they are very
curious and social, whereas the females and calves would be resting on their journey south to Antarctica after calving in the warmer Kimberley waters.
Some Humpback Whale facts from the net -
The Humpback Whale can reach 14-16 meters in length and weigh up to 45 tons. The Humpback Whale migration in Western Australia is the largest in the world with over 45,000 Humpback Whales making the epic journey - Whale Watch Western Australia
Humpbacks are known for singing loud, complex ‘songs’ – lasting up to 30 minutes long. The sounds they make are the most varied in the animal kingdom, ranging from high-pitched squeals and whistles to low, rumbling gurgles. Only males ‘sing’ and experts think they do it to attract females or to let other males know they’re in the area
These whales are found near coastlines, feeding on tiny, shrimplike krill, plankton and small fish. Humpbacks migrate annually from summer feeding grounds near the poles to warmer winter breeding waters closer to the Equator.
Females nurse their calves for almost a year, though it takes far longer than that for a humpback whale to reach full adulthood. Calves do not stop growing until they are ten years old. National Geographic Kids
I wanted to share with you one of my videos of the humpback whales, but they were too big to share, so here is a video I found to share with you from National Geographic -
It’s important to remember that if a whale approaches your vessel, you should either place your motor in neutral or move slowly away from the animal, at a speed of less than six knots. Stay a safe distance of at least 100m from whales.
There are many whale watching tours available in Australia.
Thank you so much Shark Bay Eco Tours for an incredible whale watching tour. As part of the tour we had snacks and drinks as the sun slowly sank into the Indian Ocean, completing an unforgettable afternoon on the water.
For more information
Have you seen whales in the wild? Perhaps you would like to tell us about it in your comments.
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