The whale watching season in Australia runs from about May to early November and I had meant to go earlier in the season, but life kept making me jump other hurdles throughout the year.
But I finally made the booking last week knowing if I didn't make the effort to show up on Monday morning that it was going to cost me $137 with nothing to show for it ... hang on ... where have I heard about that number before?
137, Pauli, and Toronto
Oh yeah, Pauli's favourite WTF(?) number.
 |
| The Eye-Spy whale watching boat waiting at the Redcliffe Jetty |
If you don't get that, then take a look at my blog's title, 'Just Watching the Wheels Go Round'.
I actually bought The Abbey Road Burger after the whale watching tour.
I'm a bit of a procrastinator and sometimes I have to be bashed over the head with signs from the "universe" before I'll follow up with a feeling that I should do something in my future.
I hate washing up, but when you live alone like I do the faeries aren't going to do it, so I have to do it and to get my mind off the boredom I've set my dig radio to 4KQ, the only radio station's music I can put up with consistently on a random basis.
The thing was every time I'd switch the radio on to do the dishes there would be ads for Brisbane Whale Watching Tours ... from Redcliffe(;-) talking about a "Captain Kerry".
I liked the idea of a woman captaining a whale watching boat, it's very fitting in spirit, since men were largely responsible for hunting these creatures in Australian waters over 80 years ago and beyond -
The Killers and Whales of the New South Wales Coast
I hate washing up, but when you live alone like I do the faeries aren't going to do it, so I have to do it and to get my mind off the boredom I've set my dig radio to 4KQ, the only radio station's music I can put up with consistently on a random basis.
I liked the idea of a woman captaining a whale watching boat, it's very fitting in spirit, since men were largely responsible for hunting these creatures in Australian waters over 80 years ago and beyond -
The Killers and Whales of the New South Wales Coast
 |
| The "killer" whales of Eden helping whalers to hunt ordinary whales |
 |
| Captain Kerry talking with crew members of the Eye-Spy |
 |
| A straight guy having a Gaytime and chasing Dick while cruising?-) |
A Walk of Art and Synch in Redcliffe
 |
| Whale tail art on board the Eye-Spy? |
 |
| So long Redcliffe, hello open waters and hopefully some whales |
 |
| Moreton Island straight ahead |
 |
| This is about as close to Moreton Island as I have ever been in my life |
 |
| The beautiful beaches of Moreton Island, Queensland, Australia |
 |
| Cape Moreton and its lighthouse |
"Cape Moreton Light was the first lighthouse established in Queensland.
The 23 metres (75 ft) tall structure was constructed of locally quarried sandstone, and was built in 1857.
Captain Kerry was (I got the feeling) a bit of a "sync-head" spiritual type somehow.
She told the people on board that the whales are pretty smart and that if you wave, they will wave back at you.
I thought to myself I don't know about that, I can see how the trained fish in places like Seaworld could be trained to wave at people for fish, but whales out in the wild?
Turns out Captain Kerry was right; they do appear to know that a wave is a human greeting gesture, and they definitely seem seem to be waving at the people on the boat at times.
I ended up taking about 173 pictures on my iPhone today, but I f#cked up right at the crucial moment.
Because I tried to do a thought experiment with the whales, which I thought was rather successful, but which I failed to capture on my iPhone successfully.
It seems like fate did pick the right day for me to come out on this cruise, as I heard Kerry saying it doesn't get much better than this and that the crew had captured some great drone camera footage this day.
All the action seemed to be happening on Kerry's side of the boat and it was getting a little crowed over there, so I decided to go over the other side of the boat where hardly anyone was because there were no whales doing tricks and I decided to conduct my own thought experiment between me and the whales.
I sent out thoughts to the whales that I wanted one of them to swim over to my side of the boat to where I was staring into the water, jump in the air as close to the boat as they safely could and then wave at me.
Well, wasn't I surprised when I saw the black image of a whale swimming out from under the boat right to where I was staring in the water, jump into the air then wave at the boat as if to say,"that good enough for you?"
Yes, it was, but my crappy photography skills let me down when I should have captured my best photo of the trip.
With the sun making my iPhone screen almost unviewable I realized too late that I had missed pressing the white camera button on my phone and didn't get the picture I thought I had captured of the whale jumping out of the water.
All I got of the performance was the splash and the wave from the whale.
Doh!
I hadn't been so disappointed about missing out on a photo since I was in Tasmania and missed a brilliant shot of a crow at Port Arthur -
The Conjuring, Too?
But at least it was all my fault this time.
I still got a lot of good pictures and some great video (which I'll have to work out how to download from my phone to this blog at some point) on the day, so it's not as if I had of lost my iPhone overboard, which I could have quite easily enough ... and was scared of doing.
But it would have been good to have a photo of the whale "reading my thoughts" and doing the trick I requested though.
I had a great day out on the bay and learnt that I can maybe telepathically communicate with whales somehow ... or if not predict their moves ahead of time to set up unbelievable synchronicites with them.
And just when I thought there could be no more weird surprises on this whale watching trip, we were greeted with a film crew and some guy tied up and blind-folded and about to be pushed under a docking whale-watching boat by his "friends".
But that's for another post ... which will follow soon -
Who Can You Trust, if You Can't Trust Your Friends?
UPDATE: 19th September, 2017
I saw this news story today about a whale that beached itself on a Port Macquarie beach -
Whale drags fishing trap more than 1,700km from Tasmania to Port Macquarie, then dies
35 "good conduct" prisoners were used for labour."
She told the people on board that the whales are pretty smart and that if you wave, they will wave back at you.
I thought to myself I don't know about that, I can see how the trained fish in places like Seaworld could be trained to wave at people for fish, but whales out in the wild?
Because I tried to do a thought experiment with the whales, which I thought was rather successful, but which I failed to capture on my iPhone successfully.
 |
| The brilliant whale picture that got away |
 |
| Thar she/he blows |
All the action seemed to be happening on Kerry's side of the boat and it was getting a little crowed over there, so I decided to go over the other side of the boat where hardly anyone was because there were no whales doing tricks and I decided to conduct my own thought experiment between me and the whales.
I sent out thoughts to the whales that I wanted one of them to swim over to my side of the boat to where I was staring into the water, jump in the air as close to the boat as they safely could and then wave at me.
Yes, it was, but my crappy photography skills let me down when I should have captured my best photo of the trip.
With the sun making my iPhone screen almost unviewable I realized too late that I had missed pressing the white camera button on my phone and didn't get the picture I thought I had captured of the whale jumping out of the water.
All I got of the performance was the splash and the wave from the whale.
Doh!
The Conjuring, Too?
But at least it was all my fault this time.
But it would have been good to have a photo of the whale "reading my thoughts" and doing the trick I requested though.
 |
| Moreton Island, Queensland, Australia |
 |
| Heading back to Redcliffe on the distant horizon |
Who Can You Trust, if You Can't Trust Your Friends?
UPDATE: 19th September, 2017
The weird thing for me though was of all the places that whale could wash up along on that eastern coastline it had to breach on a beach I visited last year to climb that hill behind the whale -
The Port Macquarie Obelisk
Read that post linked above about the obelisk on the hill behind the whale to see why I was stunned to read about a whale like I interacted with on Monday wash up on that particular spot on the Australian coastline.
Eerily bizarre to me.
UPDATE: 22nd September, 2017
What?!
The Port Macquarie Obelisk
 |
| The hill with the obelisk on top |
 |
| The hill with the obelisk jutting out to the sea in the distance |
Eerily bizarre to me.
UPDATE: 22nd September, 2017
"Three days after burying a 12-metre, 18-tonne whale in a deep hole, a New South Wales council has decided to dig it up again.
It dragged a fishing trap and ropes more than 1,700km from Tasmania, was disentangled off New South Wales, and finally died at the popular dog beach of Nobbys Beach.
Disposing of the whale was the responsibility of Port Macquarie-Hastings Council. It tried towing the whale out to sea, but it broke apart. High cliffs make the beach hard to access for vehicles, and this meant it was difficult to cut up the whale and truck it to landfill.
So, they decided to dig a deep hole on Nobbys Beach."
It dragged a fishing trap and ropes more than 1,700km from Tasmania, was disentangled off New South Wales, and finally died at the popular dog beach of Nobbys Beach.
Disposing of the whale was the responsibility of Port Macquarie-Hastings Council. It tried towing the whale out to sea, but it broke apart. High cliffs make the beach hard to access for vehicles, and this meant it was difficult to cut up the whale and truck it to landfill.
So, they decided to dig a deep hole on Nobbys Beach."
The whale was buried on Monday and today the council changed its mind.
Residents, including local surfers, have campaigned to exhume the whale.
They argued the whale had been buried next to one of the most popular beaches in a regional tourist hub and the carcass would attract sharks, or at least would spread fear of shark attacks.
Beaches along the Port Macquarie coast remain closed due to the danger posed by the carcass.
Wayne, who runs a Port Macquarie surf school, told Hack that whether or not the rotting whale attracted sharks, the perception of sharks hurt business.
"The perception is whales equal sharks, sharks equal whales," he said.
"If there's a dead whale there's going to be sharks. That perception whether or not it's true is going to become reality. We're a tourist town."
A petition was presented to council on Tuesday morning, the day after the whale was buried, and the issue came up in a council meeting last night.
The council released a statement today saying it was looking at its options.
"We know an operation to recover the 20 tonne whale carcass from a geographically inaccessible beach and dispose of it in another location is going to be a significant challenge, but we recognise the need to address the community's concerns," General Manager Craig Swift McNair said in the statement."
They argued the whale had been buried next to one of the most popular beaches in a regional tourist hub and the carcass would attract sharks, or at least would spread fear of shark attacks.
Beaches along the Port Macquarie coast remain closed due to the danger posed by the carcass.
Wayne, who runs a Port Macquarie surf school, told Hack that whether or not the rotting whale attracted sharks, the perception of sharks hurt business.
"The perception is whales equal sharks, sharks equal whales," he said.
"If there's a dead whale there's going to be sharks. That perception whether or not it's true is going to become reality. We're a tourist town."
A petition was presented to council on Tuesday morning, the day after the whale was buried, and the issue came up in a council meeting last night.
The council released a statement today saying it was looking at its options.
"We know an operation to recover the 20 tonne whale carcass from a geographically inaccessible beach and dispose of it in another location is going to be a significant challenge, but we recognise the need to address the community's concerns," General Manager Craig Swift McNair said in the statement."
Awesome pics and stories. Thanks for sharing. :-)
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome C.F.A
ReplyDeleteCheers.
I didn't realize you'd already gone whale watching! What great photos!
ReplyDelete