Moonshadow-TQC and Imagine Cruises set sail on the first whale watching cruises of the 2020 season on Thursday and what a start it was.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
It was a belated kickoff to the season start due to COVID-19, but once it got underway passengers and cruise staff alike were treated to close encounters and breaches inside the heads and bay.
Passengers onboard Moonshadow's 10am departure were greeted by a humpback whale just outside the headlands, not long after leaving d'Albora Marina.
The vessel stayed with the whale and watched as it headed into the Bay area.
The 1.30pm cruise departure also did not have to travel far before it came across what is believed to be the same whale directly outside of the Nelson Bay marina.
The vessel followed the whale through several inlets in the bay. It was spotted off Bagnalls Beach and as far west as Soldiers Point on Thursday night.
At 7.30am on Friday morning the same whale appeared to do a u-turn to find the deeper waters of the channel past Salamander Bay and is believed to now be heading out to sea.
NSW DPI Marine Parks were contacted of the sighting.
Each year the whales head north to the warmer waters to calve until about August and then follow the same path south with their calves around mid-September.
An estimated 35,000 humpback whales are expected to pass through Port Stephens as part of the annual migration, which runs May to November.
Experts are reporting seeing a 12 per cent increase in the humpback whale population each year, indicating the figures are tacking towards a return to those seen pre-whaling days - between 40,000 and 60,000.
Whaling on the east coast ended in 1962 and nationally in 1979. It was estimated that when whaling did end there was only 200 to 500 humpbacks left in the east coast population.
Due to COVID-19, the whale season has gotten off to a late start and with restrictions in place. Vessels are only taking out 10 passengers per cruise at the moment.