You Can Never See Enough Whales
Saturday, 29 July 2023 – morning
When I planned this trip three years ago, it included two excursions from Broome – the first to see Australia's snubfin dolphins, and the second to find humpback whales that were visiting from the Antarctic.
The small bus picked me up right on time and we were soon down at the beach where a “Sealegs” amphibious vehicle was waiting on the sand. Once we climbed on, it turned around, drove into the water, its wheels were retracted and we motored to Orcaella, the boat we’d be on for the next few hours.
I could see Reef Prince off in the distance at the main pier – and was surprised to see one of the tenders motoring by. A quick wave to Simon, Leo and Tom and then we were off to look for snubfin dolphins.
These are found along the north, eastern and western coasts of Australia and into Papua New Guinea. In this area they congregate around Roebuck Bay – where we were. They are known to be sociable within their group, but shy around boats. More information: LINK
The skipper explained that they’re relatively small – 2.0-2.5 meters. And once we saw some zipping through the water, I knew that photographing them would be a challenge. They move very quickly, coming to the surface for just a moment, then arching their backs and diving with a small, audible exhale of bubbles from their blow-hole.
Photographing their backs and cute snub-fins was not a problem. But I really wanted to see their heads. Unlike dolphins that we’re used to seeing with their streamlined snouts, snubfin dolphins have a melon-shaped head. You can see a little of this in the following photo – it’s moving from left to right.
The photo below shows a bit more of the head, with the blowhole clearly visible, and its fin just coming out of the water as it moves from right to left.
A little later we came across a rather gorgeous, but shy sea turtle floating just below the surface.
It popped its head up, saw us and promptly disappeared below the surface.
As we made our way back to the beach, we saw the backs of two dugong swimming along enjoying the sunny day. It had been a very good morning for viewing marine life.
Saturday, 29 July 2023 – afternoon
Following a quick clean of my camera and lens, and a change of battery, it was time to go whale watching. Topaz and Fred were joining me.
Once again we were on a Sealegs vessel to take us to the boat. We had left from Gantheaume Point, clearly a meeting area for 4WDs and people lying on the beach.
Soon we were away from the crowds and on our way out to sea.
Within about 30 minutes we started seeing Humpback whales. In the autumn, they start leaving the Antarctic and come up the west and east coasts of Australia, NZ and South America to mate or, for pregnant females, to have their calves.
This photo shows three humpback whales soon after we were well away from the shore, one with their characteristic V-shaped blow from their two “nostrils”.
While they are here they don’t eat. Those that have a calf will feed it, but they will all wait until they are back in the krill-rich waters of the Antarctic, before they eat. Females that become pregnant will carry their young for 11-12 months – going back to the Antarctic for the summer, feeding up there and then returning to this area to give birth.
This is one of the longest migrations in the world – it is extraordinary.
We came across a small pod behaving unusually. At one point a whale breached, its white underside facing us – of course my camera was facing the other way at that moment, but there were many “oh wows” from onlookers. Then, a little later the tail of one whale was sticking up straight out of the water, and it kept rising up vertically before it sank back down.
We don’t know what was happening under the water – the naturalist on the boat had not seen this before.
A short while later, we saw more of the head and mouth of one of the pod as it rolled to one side.
Two things strike me when I look at this photo: the areas of “flat” water to the front as well as the left and right, are indicative of activity below the surface; and the back of the whale on the left seems to be very small. Perhaps it’s a calf?
Soon after we saw the underside of the head, rising up out of the water before going down again. This is known as “spy hopping” – perhaps the eye would have been visible from the side.
It was now time to head back to the shore. Capturing this photo of a tail reflecting the evening light, was a perfect image to end my whale watching afternoon off Broome.
