We were surprised to encounter a lone humpback whale inside Hervey Bay on Saturday 15th June while on an afternoon/evening fishing charter. This is a whole month before we officially start whale watching season on the 20th July.
Our fishing passengers sighted the whale as we were travelling north towards Southern Arch cliff on Fraser Island. The whale splashed between us and a smaller guided fishing boat skippered by Tri Ton of Fraser Island Guided Fishing. Keith who was skippering Freedom III thought our guests were mistaking the splash for dolphins or other fish but he was proved wrong and we turned and followed the path to find a juvenile humpback swimming quite steadily south towards Moon Point(mid way along the inside of Fraser Island). The whale was not interested in us and was going the wrong way for our fishing plan so after ten minutes or so we turned and left it be. We radioed the other boats further south to alert them to keep a watch out with the light fading on dusk.
This surprise encounter with the first Humpback Whale for 2013 was a great bonus for our passengers and a great encouragement for the upcoming whale watch season. Perhaps the young whale was lost or just checking out his holiday spot for later in the season but we are really happy to have seen him/her and hope it’s a taste of more close encounters in Hervey Bay-’Home of the Humpback and Gateway to Fraser Island’.
Check out the video. It’s short and sweet. You might like to check out our Flickr photos too.
Don’t forget to check out the great package deals and loads of whale info on the Harvey and the Humpbacks website. Hope to welcome you on-board Freedom III for fabulous whale encounters.
