Date achieved:
Sunday 2nd September 2018
Where?
Somewhere between Cairns and Airlie Beach over the Whitsundays
Why is this experience on the Challenge List?
Watching whales has always been something that I have wanted to do, especially to see a whale breach from the water!
Description:
I remember when I was younger I went on holiday to Warnambool and we tried to spot whales from the coast and I believed the longer I kept looking the more likely it was that a whale would just appear out of the deep blue sea. Unfortunately, this is not what happened and we missed seeing the whales on that trip.
About eight years later, I went on the Young Endeavour and sailed from Cairns to Airlie Beach on a tall ship. It was not planned to see whales on this trip but during the time that we were on the ship, the Humpback Whales were migrating North towards the Whitsundays for the warmer waters.
We spotted the whales almost every day but it was just a fin waving or a tail flick.
Every day on the ship I kept watching for the whales and then one day we didn’t see one and the following day I enquired to a navy officer about if we were to see another whale and he wasn’t sure. He did say that he would keep an eye out for them for me and let me know. I remember at that point after the conversation I went below deck to go to the toilet and whilst on the toilet I heard my name being called over the ship’s loudspeaker. I finished up and then put my harness back on and rushed back up to the top of the deck and found that there were whales “having a whale of a time” as another Youthie stated it. As we watched the whales, I started filming them and after being there for a little while it finally happened!! A whale actually breached in front of us, I couldn’t believe it!!!
I took a screenshot of the video and this is the photo that I captured below.
Would I do it again?
Yep, I would love to find more whales in their natural habitat and capture some more photos of them. What I would love most of all would be to capture a photo of a whale breaching in the centre of a photograph. Possibly even have it slightly closer so then it’s less fuzzy, so with saying all of this it just means I have to go again to find some whales.
Highlight:
Seeing the whales, I still cannot believe that they were right there in front of me. They are just beautiful creatures that look like they are having so much fun!
Cost:
I went on the Young Endeavour but to see whales you don’t have to go on that ship there are plenty of whale viewing tours around. Red Balloon has locations across Australia and prices range from $100-500 depending on where, when and duration of the tour.
Further information:
Red Balloon has plenty of locations that offer whale tours.
Please keep in mind tours that are eco friendly for the whales and environment, when you are booking a tour company. Check out EcoTourism Australia for more information and tips.
Also, keep in mind you may not see a whale it’s just a bit of luck if you see one or not.