| Our Research | ||||
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 The research project to be carried out over the next three years by the Marine Mammal Research group at Macquarie University, Bass & Flinders cruises (Whale Watching Sydney) as part of an Australian Research Council linkage grant, NSW Department of Environment and Conservation and IFAW is intended to discover some important answers to the sustainability of whale watching not just for the Sydney region but internationally. Get involved, this Year as past of our ongoing project we have volunteer positions avalible to help us collect information. Become a volunteer Whale FactsResearch will help us understand the known unknowns and possibly even the unknown unknowns, but for the knowns we think we known we have included some whale facts and some links to further reading Humpback Whales
The Humpback whales migrate past our coastline each year, their timetable is predictable, but not exact. From mid May - early August they are heading north to give birth and mate at this time of year they tend to swim at 4-5 knots (5-9km/h) and will have regular down times. They may pass close by the boats to inspect us as they swim, but will tend to keep moving North. They can be very active however especially the large pods of males as they jockey for primacy in anticipation of the mating season click to Wikipedia page on Humpback whales Late August - December: The whales are swimming south Mothers with their newborns, and males after the mating season. They tend to spend more time on surface and swim slower (so that the calf can keep up!) although occasionally we will see some long down times. This part of the season is best for Muggings were the whales will come up close to the boat and investigate us!  click to IFAW Australia animated migration map Other Whale Species June - November: Other whales species will occasionally appear, here are some we have seen off Sydney
Dolphins |
Bottlenose Dolphins
Bottlenose dolphins are the most common and well-known of all dolphins. Bottlenose dolphins live in groups called pods that typically number
about 15 dolphins, but group size varies from solitary bottlenose
dolphins up to groups of over 100 or even occasionally over 1000
animals. So it is quite likely to encounter them on our trips.  click to Wikipedia page on Bottlenose Dolphins |
Common Dolphins
The common dolphin is a medium sized dolphin, smaller than the more popular bottlenose dolphin. Common dolphins travel in groups of around 10-50 in number and
frequently gather into schools numbering 100 to 2000 individuals. These
schools are generally very active - groups often surface, jump and
splash together. Also a good chance to see them on our trips. 
click to Wikipedia page on Common Dolphins |