With whale watching season on the way, here’s a heads-up on the best places to see these creatures of the deep

WORDS CRAIG TANSLEY

Photo: Photolibrary/Perrine Doug

I once considered whale watching a bit pedestrian – until I was on board a boat off Coffs Harbour recently, when the skipper pointed out a pod of eight humpback whales.

I watched as they tracked towards us, looming large and dwarfing our 11-metre boat as they passed under it. We stood up on the bow, watching them turn under the water to stare at us, seeming to change in colour from dark blue to luminous white. Then they surfaced beside us and covered us in a thick salty mist from their blowholes. It was amazing.

Each year thousands of humpback whales journey up the east coast of Australia from the Antarctic, to give birth in the warmer waters. The good news is that their numbers are swelling, with an 8% average annual increase in the number of humpback whales – up to 6,000 individuals this year. Humpbacks start to appear in the southern waters of New South Wales in June and July, before heading north, then moving south again around September, leaving us finally by November.

Few experiences are as humbling as witnessing a whale swim up close

Humpback make up 99.9% of whale sightings each year on the east coast, according to Jason Brigden of Whalesong Cruises. “We’re getting southern right whales following the same path, we see the odd false killer, bryde, melon head and minke – which isn’t much bigger than a dolphin,” he says. “But we mostly see humpbacks. The others are shy, these guys are the entertainers.”

In the sheltered waters of Platypus Bay, between Queensland’s Hervey Bay and Fraser Island, pods of humpbacks can be seen playing every day, making this area one of the planet’s best for whale watching. While many whales prefer to give birth inside the Great Barrier Reef, in Platypus Bay they rest and allow the new calves to gain strength for the long swim home. “We have incredibly close encounters here every day,” Brigden says. “The whales stop to play with us, it’s an incredibly close interaction you don’t get anywhere else as often as here.”

“People scream their hearts out, people clap, people cry. We have humpback whales that hang around the boat for hours at a time, I think some people almost pass out, it’s too much for them,” he adds.

Passengers on board Narooma Charters enjoy a close encounter of the mammal kind
Photo: Courtesy of Narooma Charters

While Hervey Bay is perhaps the world’s most famous whale watching region, you don’t necessarily have to go there to spot a whale. In Queensland, great vantage points can be found at Point Danger at Tweed Heads, Burleigh Heads, North Stradbroke Island and at Alexandra Headland and Noosa Headland on the Sunshine Coast.

Whales also come very close to the New South Wales coastline on their migration and almost every coastal national park has perfect headlands for viewing. Try the Cape Byron Lighthouse, one of the state’s best-known vantage points; the Broken Head Nature Reserve near Byron Bay; Iluka Bluff near Grafton; or off Coffs Harbour at the nearby Solitary Islands Marine Reserve. You’ll also see thousands of whales from Crowdy Bay National Park near Taree and Tomaree National Park at Nelson Bay. while nearby Port Stephens is great for boat-based viewing.

Closer to Sydney, head to Crackneck Lookout at the Wyrrabalong National Park on the Central Coast, Booderee National Park at Jervis Bay and at Ben Boyd National Park near Eden on the New South Wales South Coast. Eden’s Twofold Bay, one of the world’s deepest harbours, is the best place in the state to see whales resting and feeding. If you’re after a little human interaction as well, why not take in the Whale Festival in Eden or the annual Whales and Blues Festival in Port Stephens in June?

Dance of the giants
Photo: Ray Alley

In south-west Western Australia, you’re most likely to see whales between the months of July and October, with peak season being August and September. A highlight is seeing humpbacks and southern right whales inside Flinders Bay in Augusta on their trek north in early June, then watching rare blue whales with their calves take refuge in Geographe Bay at Dunsborough in September. You’re almost guaranteed whale sightings between June and September in the south-west.

For Rick Reynolds of Imagine Cruises in Port Stephens, the thrill is seeing first-time whale watchers gush at the size of a humpback whale. “The biggest thing for us is to show how huge these creatures are: they’re as big as our boat, and that’s 17 metres long.”

An up-close encounter
Photo: Ray Alley

Despite their enormous size (adults weigh in at 45 tonnes), humpbacks are one of the more active whales. You can see everything from a tail slap to a tail wave to a breach – the most exciting whale manoeuvre, when a whale surges out of the water and falls back in with a massive splash.

You could also get lucky and stumble on something special. “I watched a mother try to teach its calf how to breach,” sailor Peter Murray remembers. “It couldn’t do it, they tried for hours. I think the mum just gave up in the end.” “It’s great seeing them from the land,” Reynolds says. “But nothing compares to seeing humpbacks up close from a boat. Like dolphins, they’re inquisitive creatures and they love nothing more than coming in close for a good look at you.”

Two humpbacks taking a bow

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