Moonshadow have a 3 hour afternoon Whale Watch cruise and nearly always spot whales this time of year. This was the first boat based whale spotting we've done since moving here, although many times we've sat on the rocks at Birubi Point and watched the whales resting just off the shore. What followed was an at times rather exciting spectacle put on by the whales. After following a group of 5 whales for a while, we motored towards Broughton Island and more whales before turning back. On the way back to the Nelson Bay marina, spotted a few dolphins frolicking outside Shoal Bay and then picked up a large pod of perhaps 20 or so dolphins in the middle of the bay before heading home as the sun was setting.
Pics below are small sized, click on pic for larger version.
Note file sizes are fairly high and may take time to load on a slower connection. High quality pics available for download. As we were going past Tomaree Head, a solitary dolphin picked up the bow wave of the boat. To the delight of the passengers, the dolphin stayed with the boat for about 5 minutes. Just outside the heads, the first whale plumes were spotted.