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<\/a><\/br>\nI had never gone whale watching before so I decided I had to do it during this trip to Sydney. So I paid A$69 and booked myself on a whale watching trip for two Friday afternoons ago. On the way out of the Sydney Harbour, we spotted a pod of dolphins who eagerly swam alongside the bow of the boat as they enjoy riding in the wake. There were about 10 of them and it was so nice to see so much marine life in ths harbour which is shared by ferries, speed boats, jet boats, yachts, kayaks, surfskis, dragon boats, sculls, and outrigger canoes alike. It’s just amazing, isn’t it?
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<\/a>\nOften the first sign of a humpback whale’s presence is its ‘blow’, a cloud of vapour that it shoots into the air when it breaks the water surface to breath.
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<\/a><\/br>\nThe tour operator gives a 100% guarantee that you’ll spot whales – it’s the time of the year when the whales are migrating from the south to the warmer waters in the north. The boat headed towards the heads (i.e. North Head and South Head) and turned right to go along the south coast. We were about 2 to 3km from the coast when we saw the first whale coming towards us. We knew it was a humpback whale because of the dorsal fin at the top which is unique to humpback whales.
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<\/a><\/br>\nThe bottom of the humpback whales’ tails is white and they will often roll forward to dive until only the tail sticks out of the water. This is called a fluke-up dive. Humpback whales are 14m to 18m in length as adults and can weigh up to 50 tonnes.
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<\/a><\/br>\nHumpback whales have a dark grey or black body, with white patches on its belly, pectoral fins and underside of the tail flukes. These markings are like fingerprints with no two dolphins having the same black and white markings. This fingerprint, or fluke identification (ID), helps researchers to identify individuals as they migrate along the coast.
\nI just found it incredibly fascinating and was extremely in awe of being in such close proximity to these wonderful and immensely powerful mammals. We spotted about 15 in total during the 3.5 hours out at sea and some of them swam very close to (about a metre or two away) the boat. It was as if they were checking us out instead of the other way around!
\nIt’s so wonderful that these sights are so easily accessible in Sydney. I just love the fact that humans and animals can co-exist so harmoniously in this city. Whale watching is definitely something worth doing once and I can now check something off my life’s to-do list!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"