For a first-time whale tourist, three very different experiences out on the water in the Bay and beyond.
It’s mid-June and we have had some wild weather up and down the NSW coastline for a week or two, but I decide it’s a good day for my first cruise to see the annual whale migration out on the “Humpback Highway”.
It’s possibly the worst day with the wildest weather as I head down to the wharf at Huskisson, where the 30-person open boat, part of the Jervis Bay Wild fleet, is just pulling in from its morning cruise with slightly damp and salty passengers disembarking after an aborted trip out across the Bay, and a consolation cruise up the Currambene Creek in comparative stillness.
Captain Ken from Jervis Bay Wild says they abandoned any attempt to get too far out as the swell was enormous, so we shouldn’t get our hopes up, but he will see what happens… We wait a few minutes for the swell to abate so that we can exit the Husky wharf and then we spend a wild hour crossing the Bay by sticking fairly close to the coast, passing Hyams Beach, Cresswell, Hole in the Wall and Murrays Beach. It’s almost hard to believe we made it up to Bowen Island where the swell is making crashing waves on the south side of the island and the gigantic swell on the Point Perpendicular side means there’s no way we are exiting out beyond the Heads today.
There’s a Spanish family of three generations on the boat, who raise their arms and chant “Olé” as we crest the undulations of the swell – they were making the most of it, even though the whales were a total no-go. Captain Ken safely returns us to Husky Wharf after a scenic trip up the creek, and I vow to return on the next “good” day to try again.
That opportunity comes on the last Friday of June when some friends invite me to join them on the morning cruise. It’s a perfect sunny, still day with hardly a ripple on the Bay and Captain Greg is at the helm of the bigger boat, which is way taller, and a little more comfy too. My companions are highly experienced whale tourists – they have swum with the whales in Tonga, the whale sharks in Ningaloo, and have been out on more whale watching cruises than they can count.
The great conditions mean we cut straight across the Bay towards the Heads, which takes less than half the time it took on that crazy Tuesday, and we are out in the open ocean in no time, with a short stop half-way to watch a pod of dolphins play around the boat.
The tell-tale sprays of whale-breath are easy to spot and we can see there are whales to either side of our location. Greg gently takes us out towards one whale that is closer, and he/she promptly displays an elegant tail out of the water, which means they are heading into a deep dive and might be down there for a while. So we turn around towards the two whales behind us.
We spend a bit of time watching the pair, who stay close to the surface and seem to be enjoying the waters on their northerly migration. The number of whales off our coastline will dwindle soon, explains Captain Greg, as they will mostly be up in the wamer waters to mate and give birth. But come September, the Highway will be busy again with the southern migration, including newly born whale calves who often spend a night or who inside the Bay to rest and play.
All of a sudden, there’s a buzz on the boat as several people spot a pod of about five whales not far from us. Apparently it’s a “heat run” – when several males are following a single female.
This is a rare sighting, and the more experienced among us are very excited to see it. Some of these events can become quite physical, with the males bumping and jostling each other, so we keep our distance.
Another guest on the boat with us is Julie Love, a Jervis Bay local who bought a season pass back in May – her second one in two years. Last year Jules took around 40 trips with Jervis Bay Wild, and this year so far she’s been on a few already.
She says the afternoon cruises have been more plentiful with whales this year so far, with a bit of spy hopping – where a whale pokes it’s head out of the water to take a look around – and mugging – where a whale (or two) hang around the boat for a while to seemingly satisfy their curiosity.
Jules’s favourite whale behaviour is mugging, which she says happens more often on their southern migration. Today has been special, she says, because we had the “trifecta” – that’s dolphins, whales and seals in the same day. The biggest joy for her is that every cruise is different, which makes each one special and exciting in its own way.
The seals are babies, who are left in a “nursery” by their elders to float in the warm surface waters in a protected rocky scallop inside the Bay, inside a way from the northerly headland of Point Perpendicular. We see them on our way back in, floating on their backs with their flippers in the air. It’s a curious sight!
The seal colony is prevalent on the ocean side of the northern headland, and Bowen Island is home to a breeding colony of little penguins (although no people are allowed onto the island to protect these creatures).
There are other incredible sea-side creatures on our trip too, including albatrosses who skim the surface of the ocean effortlessly on their giant wings, and a pair of gulls who “mug” the boat with incredible speed as we head back into the Bay.
I recount these vastly different experiences to my parents over lunch the following week, which inspires my dad to want to go. So I make plans for us to head out during the southern migration in hopes we will see a calf.
It’s late September, and my parents and I head out on a Sunday morning tour on a full boat – it’s the first weekend of the Spring school holidays and there must be a dozen kids on this tour.
We were hoping for a calf and mother inside the bay and we were not disappointed! Right in the middle of the bay – which as the captain reminded us is 2.5 times the size of Sydney harbour and holds 5 times the volume of water – there were mother and baby, who both seemed quite comfortable with the presence of the boat.
The captain idled and sidled up to them, and we watched them slowly moving in the water side by side.
Then, the baby breached twice, to delight of all the kids on board, big and little!
We also saw a nursery pod of dolphins on our way back into the Husky wharf, with at least one 3-month old baby dolphin among the small pod of bottlenose dolphins who are some of the 80-odd mammals that call Jervis Bay home.
After these three completely different experiences, I will be very tempted by a “season pass” next year, on offer from Jervis Bay Wild in May, before the season gets under way. At around the price of three cruises, it can’t fail to be worth every cent.
