Beautiful sunny day this Tuesday the 15^th however the swell offshore and strong South-Westerly has seen Imagine put back the 2012 Whale Watch launch day to Wednesday the 16^th.

During the WhaleFest last Saturday, Spirit’s whale watch saw sightings of 3 Humpbacks and one Minke offshore in Port Stephens. Humpback Whales have started migrating for the last two weeks and the chance to see Whales is increasing and will reach near 99% in June, July and August. The humpback migrating now will reach as far as Solomon Island and Papua New Guinea, in the huge migration from the Antarctic. This can be as much as a 9000km swim!!!

10:30am Whale Watch: Imagine is nearly at full capacity for the first Whale Watch for the 2012 Season.

2:00pm Whale Watch: Plenty of Room still available- So come sailing with us and the whales!

Weather predictions for Wednesday the 16^th: 20 knots South Westerly wind abating to 16 knots, with swell dropping from 3.5 to 2.5 meters. So still some strong conditions, but Imagine is still set to sail.

Imagine is a 55ft stable Oceanic Catamaran, especially built to handle strong offshore conditions, with its 24ft beam. Imagine has spray jackets and blankets available, along with tea and coffee onboard. After 2weeks of maintenance and preparation, Skipper Yves and Crew are looking forward to see whales, along with taking Imagine offshore.

This Week’s Encounters:

Humpback Whales have been spotted out of Sydney Harbor, on their way north towards Port Stephens. Few have already passed Byron Bay and are arriving in Harvey Bay. Imagine had the chance to spot a whale during last week’s with Swim with the Dolphins Charter. Spirit has spotted a Humpback near Yacaaba headland about a fortnight ago.

So everything is set for a great opening for next week!

10:30 AM Whale Watch: Imagine is defiantly setting Sail on Tuesday 15th for their first Whale Watch, as we have already prebooked passengers anxious to go!

2:00 PM Whale Watch: Due to depart for the second whale watch for the day, Awaiting bookings to confirm the cruise.

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 your cruise operator, 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 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 8:30am and 4:30pm, 7 days a week and the number to call is 4984 9000.

TIP 2: Overdress rather than under dress, lots of layers are good. Flat shoes with a reasonable grip are the way to go, defiantly no high heels. Thick Jumpers and Jackets, Beanies and Gloves will allow you to enjoy the Whale Watch Cruise in Comfort.

TIP 3: The main part of the Whale watch tour is conducted in the open ocean and sea conditions vary from day to day and even hour to hour. PREVENTION is better than CURE. If you are susceptible to motion sickness or feel you may need remedies we strongly recommend you consult a pharmacist before any tour as there can be side effects if you are taking other medication or pregnant. In the case that you are unable to consult a pharmacist, Imagine offers motion-sickness prevention for free onboard before the tour, but pharmacists recommend taking them 1 hour before the cruise. These tablets are preventive but NOT a cure for motion sickness.

Check out the video!

$35 Seafood Dinner: Despite the rain this week, we managed to get a few awesome sunsets as the clouds parted. The weekend will produce some great weather around Nelson Bay to end the School Holidays.  The last Seafood Dinner Cruise for April will be Sunday the 29th so be sure not to miss out! From may 19th through to September 15th the Seafood Dinner Cruise will operate every Saturday night (weather permitting) Don’t forget the family price for 2 adults + 2 children is just $100!

Whale Watching: The boat will be out of the water for maintainence during May until the 15th when the Whale Watching season for Port Stephens starts. There will be over 14,000 Humpback Whales migrating past Port Stephens and the East Coast of Australia this year. Imagine operates two Whale Watch Cruises daily at 10:30am – 1:30pm and 2:00pm – 5:00pm The cost is $60 per Adult, $25 per Child and $145 per Family!

What will you be doing over the Easter weekend and the School Holidays..? The Bottlenose dolphins will be enjoying the sunshine and crystal clear waters of Nelson Bay and the rest of Port Stephens. They love visits from Dolphin watching cruises! There have been a couple of newborn dolphins this season and the perfect conditions make it easy to spot these tiny babies. The warm water is awesome for refreshing boom net rides and we’ll rev up the motors and fun factor with Jet net rides!

Imagine is now Sailing three times a day with departures at 10:30 / 12:30 and 1430 (that’s 2:30pm for all you land lubbers!) There are still seats left on all session times everyday, so give us a call to BOOK NOW!

What a magical day today for Sailing, Dolphin Watching and Snorkelling in Port Stephens. Although the day started of a bit cool the sun stayed high and clear in the sky and warmed everything up! After heading out from the Nelson Bay Marina and catching up with the playful Bottlenose Dolphins, Imagine headed offshore for some snorkelling…

Pulling into Light house cove at Fingal Island the 2 metre water was crystal clear and the seabed was being lit up and the many species of fish sparkling with help from the suns rays…with a bit of a cool seabreeze blowing, it was a ‘dip the tip of your toe into the water first’ to see what the temperature might be?… All fears were set aside after a quick dip of the toe revealved a quite comfortable 21 degrees! Such warm water gave everyone the chance to meet the local Wobbbegong and Port Jackson sharks as well as catch a glimpse of a giant Eagle Ray.

To start the trip people were worried about getting into the water and by the end the crew had trouble getting everyone to leave the gorgeous H2O to sail home!

If you want to experience this cruise there is 1 week left to give us a call!

Dolphins: Our special Wednesday crew member, Bev Stuart, has been on the iphone video again. She got this great footage that shows the Nelson Bay Bottlenose Dolphins riding on the bow of Imagine and having a great time. The green net you can see in the video is the Bow net. This net sits about 1 ft above the water and if you are sitting in it when the Dolphins decide to ride on the bows you are one lucky person indeed…… or like the girls in the picture, lucky people!

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 14,000 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!

Dolphins: The bay is very clean now and offshore the ocean floor can be seen deeper and deeper. We often refer to this as ‘the visibility’. Needless to say the Bottlenose Dolphins have been easy to find this week and very friendly as usual. Frank snapped the photo of the little Dolphin to the right with his iphone just to show how close we see them! The dolphin in the picture is a recent newborn calf belonging to Cut fin’s pod.

Dinner: We have had great weather for the $35 Seafood Dinner Cruise this week and as we said it looks like a top week for it again. Don’t forget the family price for 2 adults + 2 children is just $100! We have also had a couple of great Private Dinner cruises with ‘Ebay Australia’ and ‘Wireless Anywhere’ this week!