Sleep refused to come to me, the night before my scheduled trip out into Hervey Bay. My thirteen year old son and I were about to go on our very first "Whale Watch Safari".
It was something I dreamed of doing for about ten years, but had never been given the opportunity to go, until my dear sister gave me a ticket on a whale-watching cruise as a birthday present. Never again will my birthday ever be the same!!
The anticipation amongst our group of eight was literally palpable. We all had visions of how we would like it to be yet, at the same time, had to be realistic and understand that it was entirely up to the whales themselves as to how successful our trip would be.
Once on the boat and each settled into our "own spot", our trip began. We traveled for about an hour and a half, in picture-postcard, conditions, in weather that could only be described as perfect for boating.
All eyes aboard constantly scanned the horizon for the telltale sight of a whale "spouting". A young boy was the lucky one to first "spot the whale". From then on, the overwhelming excitement amongst us just grew and grew.
Cries of "There it is" and "Look over there!!", were resounding from one end of the boat to the other! The urge to snap away with our cameras, at what would've turned out as black spots on the horizon, had to be curbed. But I'm sure all of us have a good supply of photo's just like that! I know I have!
After about an hour of seeing many "black spots", I shamefully admit to a feeling of great disappointment creeping up on me. My sister and I confessed to each other that we were afraid sighting those "black spots" was as close as we were going to get to the whales. We decided to sit back and try to enjoy the rest of the cruise without any more expectations.
As those around us still exclaimed at the far off sights, with their cameras still clicking away, I had to force back the tears, believing that my fantasy was not to be as I'd hoped and prayed.
It happened so suddenly, I still find it hard to recall exactly the sequence of event from then on. But I shall do my best! It was only about 15 to 20 minutes after I had secretly given up hope, when literally out of nowhere, two magnificent whales surfaced right beside our boat! They were so close, the sound of their blowing was heard above the ecstatic cries of all our fellow whale watchers.
The frantic dash from the other side of the boat was, to say the least, a little frightening! But we soon realised that our sturdy "Safari Princess" was indeed a very stable boat, specially designed for "frantic scuffling whale watchers"!
With the suddenness of their appearance, I'm not sure how many people managed to get some photos of these two beautiful creatures. I know I didn't manage to make the transition from overawed spectator to avid photographer!
Those two particular whales didn't stay with us for very long. But it was enough to renew our hopes and give us a taste of what was to come.
To recall the events of the rest of the day as they actually happened is extremely difficult, because everything was happening so fast, and emotions were running so high, details are just a blur! But suffice to say that those beautiful whales did indeed fulfill my ultimate fantasy, in fact, I believe that my experiences that day will never ever be surpassed.
We came to refer to those first two whales as our first "close encounter". Our second "close encounter" came after we had moved on to another area, near two other boats. They were watching two whales, which we later found to be a mother and her calf.
As we were all going crazy with our cameras, watching them frolic and play near the other boats, to our sheer delight they turned and started to come over towards us. Occasionally, they would leap out of the water and dive, showing off their incredible tails as they dived down, only to surface even closer to us.
Before we knew it, they were right besides us, and proceeded to perform the most exquisite "ballet" you could possibly imagine! To see with my own eyes, just how incredibly graceful such an enormous creature can be, is an experience I will never forget for the rest of life!
They seemed to enjoy watching us as much as we did them! It truly seemed as if they chose to come to us and wanted to "show off' all their tricks! They took great delight in gliding right under our boat, only to surface on the other side and roll ever so gently onto their backs, almost begging us to give them a scratch on the belly!
Mother and baby continued to perform for us for about twenty minutes, if not more, reducing many of us to tears of sheer joy. The pure love and trust and serenity that emanated from those giant creatures, is really something that cannot be expressed in mere words. As hard as I try to describe what I saw and felt that day, I know that only those other lucky people there can truly understand what I'm trying to say.
As mother and calf slowly drifted away from us, I actually said to my son, as I was taking photos, the only thing they could've done to "top off their performance" was to "breach". No sooner had those words left my lips, when our dear "baby whale" leapt clear out of the water in a classic breach!! My son managed to get a photo of it, but unfortunately, it was a little too far away to be a good shot.
As our magnificent day continued on, we even became a little blasé about the distant frolicking which was constantly going on all around us. It's impossible to say just how many whales we saw, but it was, needless to say, our precious "close encounters" that left us speechless.
They played with us; they teased us; they toyed with our emotions, as if they truly knew what to do leave, us breathless, in total awe of them, and literally trembling with all the emotion of the experience!!
Later in the day, Eddy our Skipper, tried to get us to "leave our post", to go below and eat our lovely lunch. But so many of us didn't want to budge from our spot, in case we missed something!
My sister, my son and I were all much too excited to eat! So we maintained our lookouts in the hope of getting some more wonderful photos.
While others around us tired to eat their lunch, we were part of a group of four boats, with a pod of approximately eight whales in different spots, all having "a whale of a time"!
Eddy decided to move on, to allow the other boats the possibility of some "close encounters" of their own. But as we moved away from the area, two of the eight whales started to follow us! It was just incredible!
Some people weren't bothering to get excited, until suddenly those two whales were right beside us! They were by far the biggest we had seen all day. And not to be outdone by the performance of our mother and calf earlier, they proceeded to delight us with their antics, and send many of us to the brink of tears……again!!
They glided right under the boat, and at one stage had half their body out from one side of the boat, and the other half out from the other side
Sleep refused to come to me, the night before my scheduled trip out into Hervey Bay. My thirteen year old son and I were about to go on our very first "Whale Watch Safari".
It was something I dreamed of doing for about ten years, but had never been given the opportunity to go, until my dear sister gave me a ticket on a whale-watching cruise as a birthday present. Never again will my birthday ever be the same!!
The anticipation amongst our group of eight was literally palpable. We all had visions of how we would like it to be yet, at the same time, had to be realistic and understand that it was entirely up to the whales themselves as to how successful our trip would be.
Once on the boat and each settled into our "own spot", our trip began. We traveled for about an hour and a half, in picture-postcard, conditions, in weather that could only be described as perfect for boating.
All eyes aboard constantly scanned the horizon for the telltale sight of a whale "spouting". A young boy was the lucky one to first "spot the whale". From then on, the overwhelming excitement amongst us just grew and grew.
Cries of "There it is" and "Look over there!!", were resounding from one end of the boat to the other! The urge to snap away with our cameras, at what would've turned out as black spots on the horizon, had to be curbed. But I'm sure all of us have a good supply of photo's just like that! I know I have!
After about an hour of seeing many "black spots", I shamefully admit to a feeling of great disappointment creeping up on me. My sister and I confessed to each other that we were afraid sighting those "black spots" was as close as we were going to get to the whales. We decided to sit back and try to enjoy the rest of the cruise without any more expectations.
As those around us still exclaimed at the far off sights, with their cameras still clicking away, I had to force back the tears, believing that my fantasy was not to be as I'd hoped and prayed.
It happened so suddenly, I still find it hard to recall exactly the sequence of event from then on. But I shall do my best! It was only about 15 to 20 minutes after I had secretly given up hope, when literally out of nowhere, two magnificent whales surfaced right beside our boat! They were so close, the sound of their blowing was heard above the ecstatic cries of all our fellow whale watchers.
The frantic dash from the other side of the boat was, to say the least, a little frightening! But we soon realised that our sturdy "Safari Princess" was indeed a very stable boat, specially designed for "frantic scuffling whale watchers"!
With the suddenness of their appearance, I'm not sure how many people managed to get some photos of these two beautiful creatures. I know I didn't manage to make the transition from overawed spectator to avid photographer!
Those two particular whales didn't stay with us for very long. But it was enough to renew our hopes and give us a taste of what was to come.
To recall the events of the rest of the day as they actually happened is extremely difficult, because everything was happening so fast, and emotions were running so high, details are just a blur! But suffice to say that those beautiful whales did indeed fulfill my ultimate fantasy, in fact, I believe that my experiences that day will never ever be surpassed.
We came to refer to those first two whales as our first "close encounter". Our second "close encounter" came after we had moved on to another area, near two other boats. They were watching two whales, which we later found to be a mother and her calf.
As we were all going crazy with our cameras, watching them frolic and play near the other boats, to our sheer delight they turned and started to come over towards us. Occasionally, they would leap out of the water and dive, showing off their incredible tails as they dived down, only to surface even closer to us.
Before we knew it, they were right besides us, and proceeded to perform the most exquisite "ballet" you could possibly imagine! To see with my own eyes, just how incredibly graceful such an enormous creature can be, is an experience I will never forget for the rest of life!
They seemed to enjoy watching us as much as we did them! It truly seemed as if they chose to come to us and wanted to "show off' all their tricks! They took great delight in gliding right under our boat, only to surface on the other side and roll ever so gently onto their backs, almost begging us to give them a scratch on the belly!
Mother and baby continued to perform for us for about twenty minutes, if not more, reducing many of us to tears of sheer joy. The pure love and trust and serenity that emanated from those giant creatures, is really something that cannot be expressed in mere words. As hard as I try to describe what I saw and felt that day, I know that only those other lucky people there can truly understand what I'm trying to say.
As mother and calf slowly drifted away from us, I actually said to my son, as I was taking photos, the only thing they could've done to "top off their performance" was to "breach". No sooner had those words left my lips, when our dear "baby whale" leapt clear out of the water in a classic breach!! My son managed to get a photo of it, but unfortunately, it was a little too far away to be a good shot.
As our magnificent day continued on, we even became a little blasé about the distant frolicking which was constantly going on all around us. It's impossible to say just how many whales we saw, but it was, needless to say, our precious "close encounters" that left us speechless.
They played with us; they teased us; they toyed with our emotions, as if they truly knew what to do leave, us breathless, in total awe of them, and literally trembling with all the emotion of the experience!!
Later in the day, Eddy our Skipper, tried to get us to "leave our post", to go below and eat our lovely lunch. But so many of us didn't want to budge from our spot, in case we missed something!
My sister, my son and I were all much too excited to eat! So we maintained our lookouts in the hope of getting some more wonderful photos.
While others around us tired to eat their lunch, we were part of a group of four boats, with a pod of approximately eight whales in different spots, all having "a whale of a time"!
Eddy decided to move on, to allow the other boats the possibility of some "close encounters" of their own. But as we moved away from the area, two of the eight whales started to follow us! It was just incredible!
Some people weren't bothering to get excited, until suddenly those two whales were right beside us! They were by far the biggest we had seen all day. And not to be outdone by the performance of our mother and calf earlier, they proceeded to delight us with their antics, and send many of us to the brink of tears……again!!
They glided right under the boat, and at one stage had half their body out from one side of the boat, and the other half out from the other side of the boat! It was then that their awesome size became truly apparent.
These two whales, I believe, performed so majestically, and stayed with us for so long, they really were the highlight of our wonderful day. They had us all tearing from one side of the boat to the other, so fast, none of us willing to miss seeing a thing if we could help it! As they performed their acrobatics, we were performing some of our own!!
Then suddenly, they'd appear at the rear of the boat, upsetting those of us at the front, because we just couldn't get down to the back of the boat quickly. So we missed many feats of "amazing grace"!!
There were several times during that encounter, when I completely broke down, unable to take photos or even look at them for a minute or so, just totally overwhelmed with emotion! They were "overdosing" us on their love, and I just couldn't take it! That may sound crazy, but the feelings that come from those huge animals, the feeling of total and complete love that reaches out from them, is simply indescribable!!
In one way, it must be difficult for some people to think of such a huge and rather "unattractive" creature as being incredibly beautiful. But believe me, there is no sight more beautiful to me, than to see an enormous 40,000 kg whale glide its head ever so gently out of the water, not more than six feet away from me, to reveal its small, beautiful eye just enough to look straight at me, as if looking into my very soul!!
They are like a messenger sent straight from Heaven, to let us know that there is love on this Earth, there is peace, and there is total serenity they are the living proof of that!!
It never ceases to amaze me how disgustingly cruel mankind has been to these creatures over the centuries, and yet they approach us with such total trust and understanding. They seem to know just how much love we feel for them, as if it is that very love that attracts them to us. It wouldn't surprise me at all!
The "crowning jewel" of our day came very soon after our last close encounter. A boat some distance behind us had a microphone in the water, and was listening to two whales behind us "singing". That boat radioed through to ours, so we could listen too. It was absolutely magical!! It was as if we were underwater with them! Needless to say, many more tears flowed freely! We were left totally spellbound.
Eventually, our wonderful day had to come to an end. Eddy turned our boat toward home, and would you believe it, two whales followed us, as if to say, "Don't go yet!". It was honestly heart-wrenching to leave them behind.
We had a very quiet, peaceful journey home. It was a time of great introspection for many of us. It had all been like a wonderful dream, which was now, very sadly, over. Yet a wonderful dream that, after ten long years, had finally come true for me!!
Thank you with all my heart, "Humpy", and thank you Eddy
Written By Shan O'Brien
Humpback Whales in Hervey Bay
