Whale Sighting - Sun 20th Jun 2010

Whales sighted off True Blue vessel Explorer this season: 118 humpback whales, 2 minke, 220 Offshore or Oceanic Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops truncatus), approx 86 Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops aduncus), 2 Australian Fur Seal. Flocks of Gannets, 20 Black Browed Albatross and plenty of Sea Gulls.

The whales this afternoon are acting up with plenty of fluke up dives followed by lots of pectoral fin and tail slapping and the ultimate performance of 3 spectacular breaches,. Some very close encounters have made the passengers squeal with excitement. Image a 40 tonne mammal coming over and popping its head up right beside the vessel. I have goose bumps just thinking about it.

2 whales were first spotted off North Head and this was followed by a single whale coming up close behind this pod. Then another 2 humpbacks were sighted 1.5 miles behind this whale as we positioned to investigate these they sprung into the air breaching 3 times before coming over to take a close look at the excited passengers and crew. There was plenty of action including close encounters, head lunging and graceful fluke up dives from this pod, Explorer and her crew are slowly following along behind this pod homeward bound. The swell is southerly with hardly a breath of wind. Again perfect whale spotting conditions.