Monday 19th June: Morning 11 Humpbacks, Afternoon 20 Humpbacks + 2 Southern Right
Sunday 18th June: Morning 3 Humpbacks, Afternoon 3 Humpbacks
Saturday 17th July: Morning 7 Humpbacks, Afternoon 13 Humpbacks
Friday 16th July: Morning 5 Humpbacks, Afternoon 3 Humpbacks
Thursday 15th July: Morning 8 Humpbacks, Afternoon 3 Humpbacks
Wednesday 14th July: Morning 4 Humpbacks, Afternoon 2 Humpbacks
Tuesday 13th July: Morning 4 Humpbacks + 1 Minke, Afternoon 10 Humpbacks
Monday 12th July: Morning 8 Humpbacks, Afternoon 8 Humpbacks
Sunday 11th July: Morning 2 Humpbacks, Afternoon 10 Humpbacks
Saturday 10th July: Morning 25 Humpbacks, Afternoon 12 Humpbacks
Friday 9th July: Morning 9 Humpbacks, Afternoon 5 Humpbacks
Thursday 8th July: Morning 9 Humpbacks, Afternoon 18 Humpbacks
Wednesday 7th July: Morning 7 Humpbacks, Afternoon 2 Humpbacks
Tuesday 6th July: Morning 18 Humpbacks + 1 Minke, Afternoon 9 Humpbacks
Monday 5th July: Morning 3 Humpbacks, Afternoon 3 Humpbacks
Sunday 4th July: Morning 5 Humpbacks, Afternoon 5 Humpbacks
Last Sunday the 4th of July on the 2:00pm Whale Watching cruise, 
we were befriended by a group of 4 Humpback Whales off Port Stephens light house. They swam toward us, stopped around the bows of the catamaran, then feeling really confident they turned on their back exposing their large white bellies to us, lifting their tails so close they almost touched the boat… Then they circled the boat, went upwind and sprayed us with their breath while one of them spy-hopped just a couple of meters away. A moving experience for everyone onboard as the Humpbacks showed such trust and peace of mind for Imagine.
Saturday 3rd July: Morning 2 Humpbacks, Afternoon 4 Humpbacks
Friday 2nd July: Morning 5 Humpbacks, Afternoon 5 Humpbacks
Thursday 1st July: Morning 2 Humpbacks, Afternoon no cruise
Wednesday 30th June: Morning 14 Humpbacks, Afternoon 12 Humpbacks
Tuesday 29th June: Morning 9 Humpbacks, Afternoon 6 Humpbacks
Monday 28th June: Morning 2 Humpbacks, Afternoon 2 Humpbacks
Sunday 27th June: Morning 6 Humpbacks, Afternoon 6 Humpbacks
Thursday 1st July 2010
Every one was well rugged up this morning for what has been NSW and 
Nelson Bay’s coldest day on record in the last 10 years! The advantage of such weather is the quality of the light and the sharpness of the blow when the whales come up to breath. We encountered our first whale South of Fingal light house, along the Tomarree National park, surprisingly the Humpback was travelling fast in the opposite direction from its usual migratory path. We followed until we spotted a large pod of five whales and suddenly a breach… Then, in the distance another breach…!
The first group seemed really active so we tagged along, put up the sails and escorted them. What a great morning it’s been with the warm blow of the whales shooting high and clear in the morning light, playful behaviour on the surface and great tails up in the air before diving.
Our mate Rick from the office came on board with his family this morning and it was a great opportunity for his grand dad to witness a great show from the whales, from a boat, for the first time. Back at the marina every body cheered after a really good time, even the couple of guests from Singapore rugged up in my furry jacket who were not really prepared for this patch of cold weather!
Tursday 24th June 2010
What a great week, so many whales, so many breaches as we enjoyed particularly good
sea conditions. Humpback Whale traffic is bottle necking off the Port Stephens lighthouse… It is just a matter of leaving the Nelson Bay and cruising along Fingal Island to find them. This morning we started the day with light rain but, with our covered foredeck, it was perfectly fine. With the whales migrating in force at the moment we took the time out to visit the volcanic chimney of Tomaree head land before heading to the ‘Whale Highway’.
We encountered nine whales during the morning cruise, then had constant breaching in tandem by 2 magnificent adults during the afternoon cruise. Cruising home we visited the colony of seals on Cabbage Tree Island. This volcanic island is part of the Tomaree National Park and a bird reserve. The Eastern side of the island is covered by an ancient rain forest of cabbage tree palms. The seals and island are becoming a regular place to visit after watching the whales on our way back to the port.
Thursday 17th June 2010
We enjoyed the best whale watch of the season so far today, with 36 full breaches counted in a 
single cruise. This is a record for Imagine as the breaches were all from a single, young Humpback Whale. The champion humpback was travelling with 2 other whales and is estimated to be around 7 years old. The Humpback was spotted at the outer light house and constantly breached for over an hour until it reached Boondelbah Island 5kms north.
Another record for Imagine was in July 2006 when we observed over 76 breaches in one cruise but it was achieved by multiple pods of whales. During July 2007 we were breath taken when a pod of 5 whales repeatedly breached simultaneously! Luckily at the time, our cameraman friend and crew member Ray Alley was onboard to capture the unusual sight of the “Triple Breach” You can see this amazing display now on www.printzofwhales.com
Today Rick caught some amazing video footage of the 36 breaches and our guests could not have missed with their
cameras! Leaving the whales after an hour of great entertainment, we then visited the colony of Australian fur seals on Cabbage Tree Island. We had a close encounter with a young female of around 80kg resting on a rock at the South Western side of the Island. We finally ended the cruise with a pod of Bottlenose dolphins engaged in amorous behaviour around ‘dolphin rock’ at the southern tip of Yaccabah headland. A great morning despite the cloudy sky and a bit of light rain!
Captain Yves
Wednesday 9th of June
This morning the ladies from “Life Without Barriers” a group caring for disabled people, were onboard for a bit of team
building, as we sailed with a friendly young Humpback whale for around ¾ of an hour. We sailed side by side and enjoyed each others company as the whale made its way North all alone, which is not usual behaviour…It weighed around 30 tonnes and was about 10 years old.
It has been a good week for whale watching since the official opening of the season last Wednesday. I just came back from the boat pumped up with energy from ocean wind. The Westerly was gusting at 25knots this morning, we enjoyed good sea conditions as we sailed near the shore protected by the coast line. Again today we encountered lots of whales off the
Fingal light house. It is now a regular meeting point as the constant flow of migrating Humpbacks has increased from day to day. This year we are expecting around 12,000 of them to travel on the “whale highway” just off the port.
Port Stephens is celebrating with the sound of country music this long weekend with its annual Blue Water Country Music Festival starting for 3 days this Friday night.
Wednesday 2nd June 2010
What a perfect way to officially launch the 2010 Port Stephens Whale Season! The weather was excellent as Imagine
along with 25 guests and crew lined up for the sail past and then headed straight for the headlands with the ‘hot tip’ of whales just out past Boondelbah Island!
It didn’t take long to find the humpback whales and to everyone’s surprise we found not one pod but two! With a mother and year old calf ahead of us and two huge Adults to the side, we didn’t know where to look! The two adults came to the surface more frequently as they steamed ahead towards Broughton Island and seemed like the best choice for watching.
With only 2.5 minutes between breathes, there were plenty of opportunities for photos, with the best coming on the very last sighting, as with Broughton Island in the background, the whales gave us two waves with their huge tails.
Imagine was thrilled to have NBN News reporter Madeline Bond and a camera man onboard who caught the action and was able to get a great story on the News! (click the NBN logo to watch the footage!)
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