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:

  1. 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

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  2. 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 :-)

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  3. 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.

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  4. 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

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

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

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  7. 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

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

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  9. 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

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

    Great photos, thanks for sharing!

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

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

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  13. 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.

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

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  15. 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!

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  16. 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. :)

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  17. 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*

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  18. 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.

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

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

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

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  22. 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...

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  23. Amazing pictures! first one is my favourite!

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

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  25. It was still a lovely journey♫ Thanks for sharing♪

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  26. 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

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

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

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

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