Saturday 23rd July

Did anyone notice the weather this week..? The Nelson Bay Whale Watching cruise boats were tucked up in the safety of their docks for most of this week as the Port Stephens coast played host to some extreme weather conditions. But do not despair…!

We grabbed a screen shot from a weather site today that shows by Monday we should be back to some excellent Whale and Dolphin watching weather as the huge swell and seas and strong winds ease.

What do Whales and Dolphins do in bad weather?

Many people wonder what happens to the whales and Dolphins when the seas are rough..? Well the short answer is not to much at all! Like most animals, Humpback Whales and Dolphins are very well adjusted to their climate. The Humpbacks spend half of the year in the freezing waters of the Antarctic which makes them fairly comfortable in the wind and rain. Both Dolphins and Whales are born with and then continue to grow a warm layer of fat to protect them from the cold water. However I do suspect that like myself they do prefer the warm sunshine.

This week while most people were snuggled up in doors staying dry, the Humpback Whales would have continued their northern migration past Port Stephens. When the swell is larger, it is not uncommon to see the Humpbacks having a bit of a surf in the swell to help them along! The sightings before this rough weather week have been excellent and in this week to come we are sure the sightings will be great!

Free ‘Oceans’ Movie pass with every Midweek Adult Whale Watch direct booking by calling us on 02 4984 9000.

Whale Watching departs daily at 10:30am and 2:00pm (3 hours)

Nelson Bay Cinema
Cinema Mall, Stockton Street, NELSON BAY
Starting: Thursday 28th July end Wed 3rd August
Times: 11:45am, 3:15pm and 6:45pm (102 mins)

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Oceans/105670462800308

See you on the water!

Saturday 9th July

Wow! The last few weeks of Whale Watching in Nelson Bay have flown by and hundreds of lucky passengers have been able to experience a ‘Sail with the Whales’. Apart from spending time with the whales, each daily trip regularly consists of seeing the Port Stephens resident Bottlenose Dolphins and we also usually get to see a family of Australian Fur Seals on Cabbage Tree Island.

During the last week of June and just yesterday afternoon (8th July) guests were treated to a very special ‘audience with the whales’ as two male Humpbacks sang us their mating calls. Imagine is equipped with a Hydrophone which is basically an underwater microphone. With the wonders of Technology we captured some of this in the video below!

10th June 2011

Two posts ago we asked the question “Want to go Whale Watching this weekend?” and some lucky people chose to come out for a sail on Imagine…

‘The Humpback Whale traffic is steadily growing on the whale highway off Port Stephens and some of the most spectacular things for these huge animals to do is Breach or Spy-hop.

Breaching is when the whale flicks its tail three times and can launch itself completely out of the water, this is no small effort for an animal that can weigh up to 60 tons.  Spy – hopping is a term used to describe when a whale sits vertically in the water and raises (hops) its head out of the water to have a look around (spying).

… So, back to last weekend and why were our passengers so lucky? Well as you can see, these photos from both Whale Watch cruises on Sunday 5th June 2011 speak for themselves!

Passengers got the double treat of awesome whales and the benifit of having crew member Didj Hopkins onboard, camera at the ready to snap these great photos!

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!

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.

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!

Friday 20th May 8:30am

After a great week of weather and patiently waiting for the Humpbacks to arrive in Port Stephens, we can now officially say “The Whales are here!”

As the fog lifted to reveal a beutiful sunny day and calm ocean, Skipper Frank Future was patiently watching the water to the South of Boat Harbour and just like that, a blow, and then another! It looks like we have two Humpback Whales making their way North so when Imagine pulls out of Nelson Bay for the morning whale watching session guests should be in for a treat.

We will keep you all posted as the day progresses, and try to get photos and video of the first Port Stephens Humpback Whales for 2011!

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.

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!


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