High Seas - Whale tales

High seas

Brian and Gill Maxlow share a very special encounter with one of nature's most awe-inspiring creatures - the humpback whale.

This is the story of our truly amazing, once-in-a-lifetime, whale experience on our 11.8m yacht, Destiny III. The We were travelling north from Brisbane, heading generally for the Whitsundays, for some extended winter cruising.

We'd come across the Wide Bay bar a few days earlier, and enjoyed some very slow motor-sailing through the Great Sandy Straits. We had spent the previous night at anchor near Platypus Bay on the eastern side of Hervey Bay inside of Fraser Island. We were motoring along on a glasslike sea with virtually no swell. The mainsail was hoisted in the hope that some sea breeze might develop during the day (I'm always the optimist).

Prime whale-watching territory
Knowing we were in a prime whale-watching area (a steady stream of commercial whale-watch boats from Hervey Bay going to and fro) we thought we'd try and spot some whales as we sort of pointed roughly in the general direction of our next planned stopover in Bundaberg. The conditions for whale-watching were ideal: because the sea was so incredibly flat, you could see a ripple a mile away. Even having the motor at normal cruise speed seemed to be a violation of the tranquillity, and it just felt more in keeping with the total calmness and beauty of the day to keep engine revs at just a tad more than idle, creating minimal noise and wake, allowing us to fully appreciate the peace as we glided along at three or four knots.

We saw some whale activity (and some other boats) a mile or so ahead, and as we got closer, mindful of the no-more-than-three-boats-at-a-time rule, we kept our distance by cutting the motor completely and just drifting. There appeared to be two large humpback whales entertaining the other boats, but suddenly, they spotted us and came racing over.

Giant torpedoes
As they closed in at fairly high speed, it became obvious that they were extremely interested in the inflatable tender we were towing behind Destiny III. We had a few moments of concern. They looked like two giant torpedoes aiming straight for our tender. Could they want to attack it? Or maybe even get amorous with it? (Well, it is a nice new rubber duckie!)

But they were just curious and circled and dived around the tender for several minutes without ever touching it, coming within centimetres before turning away.

Having satisfied their curiosity about our tender, they came to check us out. They swam around and under the boat, circling and diving, and never seeming to tire of our company. We were enthralled.

Not just the boat
We have no doubt that the pair of whales could see both of us, and were interested in us as individuals; it wasn't just the boat that had their attention. We experimented, and verified this theory by walking up to the foredeck, whereupon the whales would follow our movement, sticking their heads out of the water as if to say "Hello", and making definite eye contact.

Touching whales is not allowed by the Parks and Wildlife Service, so we didn't, but when they paused next to the boat, raised their mammoth heads up out of the water, they seemed to be inviting more interaction by physical contact. I often wonder how the whale would have responded to a pat on the head.

For an hour the pair kept us company, sometimes doing rolls to show their white undersides, sometimes waving fins in the air, as they idly swam around. They seemed to be just having fun and enjoying the clear warm waters. The crystal-clear water and unruffled surface meant we could see them gracefully glide under the keel into the depths, then re-appear again as they surfaced for a breath and more circles around us. Not once did they touch our boat, though many times it seemed they would. I was surprised at how supple and agile they were (I'd previously thought of them as being like supertankers). Up close, they are huge. But we didn't feel threatened; they were so graceful and majestic.

Slipping away
In the end we had to leave, but leaving wasn't easy - we still had the main up, and the few gentle wafts of breeze just gave us steerage. We tried to slip away while the pair went to investigate a small powerboat that had just arrived, but then they saw us drifting off and came back to us, as though they didn't want us to leave. But slowly, we did inch away from the pair, and we were almost speechless with awe and amazement about what had just happened.

Visiting time
In chatting to the tour operators on the commercial boats, I learned that the whales come into Hervey Bay on their route south, and generally they spend about two weeks in the bay before continuing on the journey back to Antarctic waters where they find food. Consequently, there are always groups of whales leaving and new ones arriving, and the purpose of coming into the bay would seem to be purely for rest, relaxation and of course, for the new calves to grow and learn about secret whale business from mum.

When recounting our whale tale to new friends met on our cruise, many have asked if we turned our depthsounder off while the whales were around. To which the answer is "no". To be honest, I didn't even think of it, but the popular opinion among the "experts" in the yacht club bar is that the whales would definitely hear it. I don't know if this is true, but it certainly didn't scare them off.

On the increase
It's pleasing to find out that whale numbers are increasing at about 10 percent per year, so whale encounters like we had are presumably going to be much more common. If you're travelling up and down the coast during the whale migration season (May-Sept), then it's well worth coming inside Fraser Island to see these magnificent creatures. The best viewing spots are in the area of Platypus Bay, which is about 25 miles from Urangan Harbour, or around 40 miles from Port Bundaberg - both these towns have excellent and welcoming marinas, or anchor almost anywhere along the west coast of Fraser Island in fine weather.

AUTHORS BIO.
Brian and Gill Maxlow live on board their Endurance 35. At the time of writing they were cruising NSW and Queensland en route to Darwin, where they were to join the 2008 Darwin-Kupang rally. Details of their adventures can be found on their website, www.maxedout.info