Hervey Bay Gossip

It’s been quite a while since we went whale watching but when a client asked us to revamp their website and add some images we decided that it was time for us to go and do our own photos. So yesterday we headed out on M V Mikat and we had an incredible time.

Now you’ll hear all the other whale watching centres tell you why they’re the best and Hervey Bay has certainly lost a lot of whale watching tourists to those other centres but frankly … if you don’t do it in Hervey Bay then you’re missing out.

If you want to rock and roll in the open sea off the Gold Coast or off Sydney Heads then by all means but don’t forget your sea-sickness tablets. If you want calm conditions and whales that aren’t in a hurry to get home then you’ll come to Hervey Bay.

We saw plenty of whales that stayed around the boat for ages … in fact one got so close and stayed so close that we were a little late getting back. That particular whale hung around the side of the boat … within a metre or two of the boat … and didn’t want to go away so while it stayed we couldn’t move.

Earlier in the morning a female and one of its friends played tag around the boat getting as close to the bow as what you see here in this photo.

And there’s always something awe inspiring about a creature that’s almost as big as the boat and slowly cruises by a metre or so below the surface just to see what we’re doing in its playground.

We had an amazing day and so did everyone else on the boat and we want to thank the guys from Mikat – they’re not our client but they sure did look after us and all the other whale watchers too.

If you’ve ever been out on one of the great whale watching cruises that operates out of Hervey Bay during July to November you’ll know what I mean when I wonder whether it’s just us watching the whales or mabye the whales find us interesting enough to watch us too.

This photo was taken from one of Hervey Bay’s whale watching cruise boats – the DescaradA.

The first whales of the season were sighted at the top of the Bay last Wednesday. Whalesong reports that a few young whales were spotted and undoubtedly more will follow.

The Hervey Bay Whale Festival will be on again this year from August 10 to August 12 and the council is calling for stall holders and volunteers who are interested in participating.

For further information you should go to the website at http://www.herveybaywhalefestival.com.au

It’s so easy for us here in Hervey Bay to be fooled by our self-appointed title of ‘Whale Watching Capital of Australia’ and to think we will always have lots of people coming here to see whales.

The sad fact is that we’re not the only place in Australia can see whales up close and personal and lots of people think that there are better places than Hervey Bay. If you read this piece on the Sydney Morning Herald’s website you’ll see that we don’t get many mentions at all.

I think that it’s something we need to think seriously about because, apart from the whales and being an intermediate stop on the way to Fraser Island, we don’t really have much to attract the tourist dollar and that’s an important source of income for Hervey Bay.

Are you interested in whale research in Hervey Bay? If you are then perhaps you can join an intern programme being run by the Oceania Organization of Australia.

This year they’re running their 18th Whale Research Expedition in Hervey Bay from August to October and they’re offering internships to interested people. You can find out more here at the Dancing Dolphin Journal

Wow, it’s not even May and already humpback whales have been spotted off the NSW north coast and could even be on the eastern side of Fraser Island.

Perhaps the whale season will begin a little earlier than July here in Hervey Bay.

You can read the full story here