Saturday 4 August 2012

Whale watching, but where are the whales?

I was very excited recently to organise a whale watching trip as a school holiday excursion with my son. This year there are record numbers of humpback whales migrating up the Eastern Australian coastline to escape the Antarctic winter. 

It was an amazing foggy morning
(the view from our accommodation)
The fog was starting to rise by the time we got to Newcastle harbour. 
Newcastle harbour has 8 tugs



Nobby's Head
Mist rising from a patch of Pacific Ocean

Mr Wicker may have played with this image

It turned into an amazing day


Except for one small thing, we didn't see any whales. 


15,000 whales are travelling up the East Coast of Australia and we didn't see one! Luckily I took photos of some birds to pass the time. 
Pied Cormorant (Phalacrocorax varius)

Yellow-nosed Albatross (Diomedea chlororhynchos)
Even the sea gulls played nice
Silver gull (Larus novaehollandiae)
But still no whales.... So they took us to see some seals, well a seal as it turned out. I learnt that Australian Fur Seals will often rest on the rudders of ships anchored at sea. It makes sense for them I guess, they don't have to bother to swim in to the coast.


Saturday Snapshot, is a wonderful weekly meme from at home with books

31 comments:

Christine Harding said...

Oh what fabulous pictures, but what a shame you didn't see a whale. The seal is lovely though - we saw seals swimming when we went to the Isle of Man last year, and it felt really special. My Snapshot is at http://goo.gl/S95dh

Brona said...

Newcastle harbour is beautiful Louise. Walking along the new esplanade area and out along the breakwall is a lovely thing to do a sunny winter's day. Sorry you missed the whales...a good excuse to do it all again soon :-)

Unknown said...

These are absolutely beautiful pictures, it's a shame you didn't get to see the whales, but what a lovely say it must have been anyway, what a lovely view.

Paulita said...

I agree with everyone else that the boat ride itself and the beautiful views were worth the trip. I would love to see some whales. I have to stop reading Saturday Snapshots because my list of places I must visit keeps growing. Here's Mine

(Diane) Bibliophile By the Sea said...

The fog photo looks quite ominous. I love your photos, must have been a fun time.

Eva said...

Looks like a fun day at sea despite the lack of whales. Hope you have better luck some other time.

Laurel-Rain Snow said...

Sorry that the whales did not show...but you got some great water pix and the birds and seals are great, too.

Here's MY SATURDAY SNAPSHOT POST

Eugenia O'Neal said...

Sorry you didn't see any whales but you got some other lovely photos. The ones with mist are beautiful.

Joy said...

Beautiful photos! Too bad about the whales, though. It looks like you managed to have a lovely day in spite of their absence.

Joy's Book Blog

BurtonReview said...

Looks like an amazing day besides the non-whale part :)

Great photos, thanks for sharing!

BurtonReview said...

Come see my snapshot for today.

Susan Lindquist said...

Beautiful day out on the water! Too bad those whales zigged when you zagged! That seal looks pretty happy on that ship rudder!

JoAnn said...

Amazing photos - must have been a wonderful experience, even without the whales!

bermudaonion said...

That top photo is very eerie!

Alyce said...

I love how reflective and still the water is in that first photo! Too bad about not seeing the whales, but at least some birds cooperated.

Rebecca @ The Key to the Gate said...

The fog was beautiful! Great images of the sea!
Rebecca @ The Key to the Gate

Leslie (Under My Apple Tree) said...

At least you got a nice day in the harbor and saw some shore birds. And that seal was quite a sight. Lazy little guy!

The one time I went to see whales they didn't show up either. This was off the coast of southern California. They had been sighted earlier in the week, but didn't wait around for me!

grammajudyb said...

You got some great pictures of the birds at least. I like the harbor pictures too. Just point me at some water and I'm a happy girl. :)

Kim said...

Well, it was unfortunate you didn't see any whales, but the views of the water you snapped are gorgeous--especially the first one!
*smiles*

Sim Carter said...

Here on the California coast we see whales in the late winter/early spring (January - March). I've gone out on whale watching trips where we didn't see a single one. Other times we've been lucky to see a few. Pretty amazing!

I love the flatness of the water in your first shot. It's so still it feels like something big is coming.

Anonymous said...

Aww, too bad you missed the whales! You got some beautiful ocean shots though. :)

Anonymous said...

Especially love your photos of seaguls and the fog in the harbour.

Irene said...

I was so looking forward to whales. But a seal resting so it doesn't have to swim. Great shots.

Kailana said...

Great pictures! Here if you don't see whales you get to go again. Is this the case for you? I see whales more by accident than on any sort of tours...

srivalli said...

Amazing pictures! first one is my favourite!

Deb Nance at Readerbuzz said...

Ah. No whales. Maybe they were all off together, trying to people-watch. Perhaps they were disappointed, too.

Lmkazmierczak said...

It was still a lovely journey♫ Thanks for sharing♪

Genie -- Paris and Beyond said...

Oh, I am sorry that you did not see the whales, but it was surely a lovely outing. The solitary seal on the rudder looks quite comfortable!

My daughter and I were on the coast of Oregon a few years ago for a glass weekend and were thrilled to see the gray whales migrating through... amazing!

Bises,
Genie

Barbara said...

I love how the weather changes in each photo. also love the photo of the Albatross, a bird I've never seen!

Book Savvy Babe said...

beautiful pictures, it did turn into a great day :) Book Savvy Babe

Carol said...

Beautiful photos, although it is a shame you didn't get to see any whales.