Aussie Marine Adventures are your Humpback Whale specialists! Here on the Ningaloo Reef, in the remote coastal towns of Exmouth and Coral Bay, the Humpback Whale season is in full swing! The western coast of Australia has the largest population of Humpbacks anywhere in the world, currently estimated to be between 30,000 to 40,000 animals.
Every year between June and October we have the chance to see these awesome giants on their annual migration from their summer home in the Antarctic to the warmer waters of their breeding grounds here at Ningaloo and off the Kimberley further north. This gives us a great chance to see these amazing creatures up close and personal on boat tours conducting whale watching and even whale swimming interaction experiences with Aussie Marine Adventures!
Our experienced skippers and crew are taking people out on the water every day at the moment and showing them the wonders of Humpback Whale behaviour as they pass by this section of coastline. We see them travelling, resting, playing and even teaching their young how to do all the things big whales do!
As we watched a mother and calf pair travelling north along the back of the reef in the shallows the other day, we were thrilled see the 30 tonne mother jump out of the water doing a full body breach! Then, to our amazement, the little newborn calf attempted to jump out of the water as well! It was so cute because the little one could only manage to get about half it’s body out of the water, but was determined to keep trying and as we watched on from a safe distance the calf repeatedly kept jumping up and splashing down in front of all our delighted guests and crew.
We watched for over half an hour as the little calf kept going, until it obviously became exhausted and stopped to rest! This is typical of the type of behaviour you could expect to see on one of our tours and the Sunset Whale Watching Tour is a very popular option at the moment, where you will not only see Humpbacks doing their thing, but also watch the sunset and have a complimentary champagne or beer while doing so in the calm protected waters of the Exmouth Gulf on our safe and stable 50 ft. twin-hulled vessel.
We are also running our Humpback Whale swim tours at the moment and have had some amazing in-water interactions on this exciting, fun and awe inspiring tour. Groups of no more than 7 guests are invited to enter the water with an experienced professional guide and a videographer (to capture all the action on camera) while a spotter plane guides the group into position for the best in-water views of these amazing gentle giants (the plane communicates directly with the in-water guide using a waterproof radio).
It’s hard to describe the feeling that you will get when you see a 40 tonne whale swimming past, and many of our guests are left speechless after their first encounter on what is truly a once-in-a-lifetime dream come true for most people. We take swimmers and also people who would rather just watch from the boat, and it is an experience most people will never forget because even those who are only on as whale watchers see some pretty cool stuff. We always observe the behaviour of each pod for a while before deciding if they are suitable for an attempt at a swim interaction, so lots of amazing activity will be witnessed throughout the day including breaching, pec and tail slapping, and mother and calf pairs frolicking in the shallows. We also see all kinds of other local wildlife on these tours which often includes animals such as Dolphins, Turtles, Manta Rays, Dugongs, Whale Sharks, and even Orcas!
My name is Shaine and I am a skipper on these tours … give me a call and I will be only too happy to share some of my many stories and get you out on one of our tours, as running these tours and showing people these amazing animals is one of the great passions of my life. I absolutely LOVE showing people the things that I see every day here in my own back yard! Call me on 0456 407 547 or send me an email.
