Port Stephens whale watching season officially opened!

9th June 2011

NBN News gave the 2011 official opening of the Port Stephens Whale Watch Season some great coverage. The cameraman and everyone onboard were treated to some excellent breaching by a huge Humpback Whale. To see the video please click on the NBN banner to the right.

This years official opening was themed ‘Youth for Whales’ and Imagine was glad to welcome onboard 10 local high school students as well as National Parks ranger Leanne Ellis who got to be a part of this very special cruise.

Were you a part of the official opening..? Local resident John Longworth has put together this nice compilation video (below) of the days events!

Sick Humpback calf sighted off Port Stephens.

Friday 3rd June

Passengers and crew of two of the ports whale watch vessels “Imagine” and “Spirit” witnessed a sad whale watchintg event in nature yesterday. A small humpback calf clearly seperated for some time from its mother was labouring along past the entrance of Port Stephens at 11am.

Barely able to swim and struggling even to raise its head for a breath, the barnacle encrusted calf appeared near the end. Both skippers of Spirit and Imagine spoke with National Parks and Wildlife Service Manager Mick Murphy about the possibility of its stranding somewhere along the NSW coast in the next few days.

It is generally understood that a Humpback calf requires its mothers milk for a full year if it is to survive. Whatever the reason for this calf’s seperation, it will die within days unless by some miracle it is adopted by a lactating female that has lost her calf.

This incident is of a different nature to the strading of sick Humpback Whales recently on the Western Australian coastline.

Later in the cruise two healthy Juvenille Humpbacks were sighted going north and an amazing feeding frenzy involving hundreds of Common dolphin and thousands of Gannets massing to feed on bait fish.

Want to go Whale Watching this weekend..?

Whale Watching in Port Stephens has begun!

The Humpback whale migration has begun in force and since last Friday we have not as yet missed seeing a whale on any of the 8 whale cruises. According to the weather sites we use, the sea and wind conditions will be excellent for Nelson Bay and the surrounding Port Stephens areas for the coming weekend.

The whales have already been showing off with some tremendous breaching. On the very first cruise, Imagine was mugged (when the whales come right up to the boat) and the close up action hasn’t stopped there. This weekend has seen some very friendly whales and more breaching. On Monday morning’s whale watch, not only did we get to see the whales with the amazing backdrop of Fingal Island’s historic lighthouse, guests were also treated to some more spectacular breaching!

Lucky passengers on Saturday got to see the rare sight of a Minke Whale with her calf, as Imagine sailed past the islands!

All of our whale watch cruises start with a Dolphin cruise inside the bay with the friendly Bottlenose Dolphins. At this time of year we also regularly see the offshore Pacific Common Dolphin that love to come and ride the pressure wave from the bow of the boat. The afternoon cruise is proving popular, although it may be a little colder we are sure you will agree that sailing at sunset is worth it!

Whale watch sightings and sea condition report 13/05/11

Imagine has had to postpone the 1st scheduled Whale watch cruise on Saturday 14th May due to bad weather. We will definitely be looking for whales on Monday afternoon and our 2pm cruise is a definite!

Whale Watching sea conditions predicted for Sat 14th & Sun 15th:

The forecast for this coming weekend is not good for offshore Whale watching activites, with strong wind from the South West picking up at over 30knots late on Saturday afternoon. Seas are predicted to be huge from 2.5m on early Saturday reaching nearly 5m in the evening! Temperature will remain cool between 17 to 20 during the day but the good news is the sun will be shining…

Sea conditions predicted for Monday 16th:

The sun will be shining and the wind is predicted to drop completely for Monday afternoon Whale watching. The swell will be long and just over 2m, so conditions will be near ideal to spot the first whales of the season! Air temperature will remain cool at around 19 during the day so we recommended you dress warmly.

Whale encounters:

Humpback whales have been spotted passing Jervis Bay on the 9th of April and passing Maroubra in Sydney the on the 18th of April. Some residents of Avoca beach on the Central coast also spotted a couple of Humpbacks on the 21st of April… This makes the chances of spotting the 1st whales off Port Stephens in May very high!

To find out about our Whale Watching cruises click here!

The Skipper’s HOT TIPS for Whale & dolphin watching:

TIP 1: If you have any concerns with weather and sea conditions you should always check in directly with Imagine Cruises. Imagine uses three main online meteorological sources in making our sea condition predictions plus we interpret local conditions that may affect the areas we travel to when looking for whales and dolphins. These weather channels are updated quite regularly during the day as things do change, so it is a good idea to check in. If you have any doubts, Imagines office is open between 9:00am and 4:30pm, 7 days a week and the number to call is 49 815 373.

TIP 2: Overdress rather than under dress, lots of layers is good and ladies, jeans are more practical than dresses but woolen tights are a great idea if you are wearing a skirt. Flat shoes with a reasonable grip is the way to go, no stilettos girls! You are going to want to be outside so big jumpers or ski jackets and beanies are the best.

TIP 3: If you have any doubts about how your tummy is going to stand up to a few hours at sea take a motion sickness pill. Imagine has them free on board but the best time to take them is half an hour before boarding or at the latest when you get on board.

12 reasons Why Nelson Bay – Port Stephens is the best Destination for Whale Watching Australia

1. Whale watching in Port Stephens is conducted in what is the largest Marine Park in New South Wales (98,200 hectares). The Port Stephens Great Lakes Marine Park.

2. Nelson Bay Whale Watching runs for 6 months of the year. It includes the Northern migration from mid May to August when Humpback Wahles migrate to their calving ground in the coral sea. The Southern migration from August to mid November when the mothers and newborn calves make their way back down to the feeding grounds in Antartica.

3. Over 12000 Humpback whales are expected to migrate up the East coast in 2011, making the chance to see the spectacular giants very reliable They will start passing Port Stephens by mid May.

4. The whales migrate very close to Port Stephens making whales easier to spot and shortening the travelling time to get to the whales.

5. All Whale Watching cruises from Nelson Bay include a dolphin watch cruise. 3 different types of dolphins use the marine park: Over one 100 coastal bottlenose dolphins (100kg) can be found in the bay and are sometimes visited by their cousins the offshore bottle dolphin (up to 650kgs.) On most occasions the friendly short beak oceanic common dolphins (up to 100kgs) can be seen in very large pods when sailing past the offshore islands.

6. 8 species of whales can be seen in the park: Humpback whales (30t), Minke whales (9t), Southern Right whales (80t), False killer whales (2.5t), Sei whales (40t), Pilot whales (3.5t), Brydes (pronounced brudus) whales (30t), Fin whales (90t) and Orcas, these 6 to 9t killer whales have been seen in our waters but sightings are rare…

7. Cabbage Tree Island is unique attracting a Seal colony and a rare species of Petrel. During the whale season we regularly stop along the rocks to observe the Seals. Other wild life like sea turtles and little blue penguins are often part of the cruise.

8. Bird watching is ideal during whale watching, it’s a time when Gannets congregate in large flocks to feed and the Short tail shearwaters come by the thousands to nest on Broughton Island. Its cousin the Fluttering Shearwater is often seen in big flocks hovering over the water. Magnificent albatross like the Yellow-Nose Albatross are commonly seen, on some occasions the Sooty Albatross and a variety of Petrels are sighted. Some are residents of the Park like Wedge Tail eagles and the White Breasted Sea eagles, soaring above the headlands keeping check on the fish below.

9. The whales migrate in the largest group of islands along the NSW coast, all of them National Parks and the scenery is spectacular.

10. Whale watching is conducted along a scenic coast line composed of 2 large National Parks, the Tomaree National park to the South and the Mayall River National Park to the North. The Bay with its scenic volcanic headlands is itself twice the size of Sydney harbor and offers awesome views.

11. Whale watching in Port Stephens is so good that it can be done from the points and Headlands. One of the best view points is Telegraph point from Boat harbour just a short drive from Nelson Bay, but of course your best chance to have a great encounter and the closest view is from a whale watch boat.

12. Sailing is the ultimate way to whale watch, it’s so quiet you can hear them blow!

Whales taking Port Stephens turn-off on the Whale Highway..!

What a week..! The Humpback Mothers and Calves have been on cruise control all the way down the North Eastern coast of Australia on the whale highway. For some reason, this week they have decided that Port Stephens is just to much of an awesome tourist destination to pass by without first poking their heads in to say hi!

On nearly every cruise this week there have been at least one pair of Mother and Calf Humpback whales either just between Tomaree and Yaccaba headlands, or, as happened on a couple of cruises, right inside the bay!

On yesterday’s cruise the whales were so far into shore they were just about crawling up the beach at Hawke’s Nest!

What does this mean…?

It means that Port Stephens is the prime spot for the absolute best whale watching experience, right now!

The whales travelling in so close to the headlands and islands gives us the opportunity on each cruise to “take a moment” and enjoy the scenery. !

Yaccaba Headland’s awesome display of Volcanic rock formations and caves is a great backdrop to watch the Bottlenose Dolphins, and this week, the Whales! Cabbage Tree Island is still playing host to a family of Australian Fur Seals and the pair of White breasted Sea Eagles are always flying overhead.

If you have the time, get to Port Stephens and book on a cruise. You will see and experience Whales, Dolphins, Seals, various bird species, Sailling and absolutely stunning scenery!

Last days of Winter in the Whale Wonderland!

Spring has arrived in Port Stephens! Imagine celebrated Southern Right Whale Breach 001 the last few days of Winter with some excellent weather and exciting interactions with Humpback, Minke and Southern Right Whales!

The Minke Whales have been following huge schools of fish along with tens – of -thousands of migratory seabirds. These include Yellow Nosed Albatross, Fluttering Shearwaters & Australasian Gannets to name a few. Of course, when the fish are schooling, the Pacific Common Dolphin are never to far away. We have had some great days with the dolphins swimming on the bows of the boat!

On Monday, Yves, Lisa and the lucky passengers were treated to a Whale Symphony! One Humpback Southern Right Whale Breach 002 was singing for nearly the entire cruise and it was so loud and clear that passengers could even hear it without the use of the Hydrophone (underwater Microphone). Lisa said “It was like the entire boat was a huge microphone” she could hear it as she stood high up above the passengers on the spreader of the mast!

Tuesday morning’s guests were treated to some great Humpback Whale tail flukes. On the way back to the Port as we passed the Fingal Lighthouse everyone cheered as we saw the extremely rare sight of two Southern Right Whales. The best was yet to come…As one of them decided to do a full breach out of the water about 70metres from the back of the boat!