Whale Sighting - Thu 1st Jul 2010

Whales sighted off True Blue vessel Explorer this season: 168 humpback whales, 2 minke, 220 Offshore or Oceanic Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops truncatus), approx 74 Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops aduncus), 2 Australian Fur Seal. Flocks of Gannets, 20 Black Browed Albatross and plenty of Sea Gulls.

Great conditions on the morning cruise with less than .5 metres of swell and winds blowing West at 11-12 Knots. A total of 11 whales spotted 4 miles East of Manly. 4 of these Humpbacks were full breaching & tail slapping and having a playful time.

The other 7 are in a competition pod with the male whales of the group aggressively trying to find their mate. Another 9 were spotted later in the AM cruise making it a wonderful & record number of whale sightings in one trip.

The PM cruise was a little more sedate with 2 pods of 2 spotted 1 mile off North of Bondi. Other Wildlife in the ocean that paid the Explorer a visit were Albatross & plenty of Seagulls.

Wayne Reynolds was the special guest on both todays cruises. Wayne is the Founding Volunteer National Parks Cape Solander Whale Watch.